The Elements Return
by Moon Lily91
Summary: After 5 months, Amaterasu finds out that the element dragons are appearing once again. However, an unwanted eleventh dragon is coming back as well and has a powerful ally. Please R&R! Sequel to Okami Amaterasu and the Element Dragons. Chapter 14 up!
1. Prologue

All Okami characters do not belong to me! All the dragons DO belong to me! so here is the prologue for those of you who had not read my last story.

Prologue

Amaterasu had lived on the Celestial Plain for six months until a dragon from another world appeared on the heavenly plain. The dragon made Amaterasu fall to the world below but Waka had saved her in time. Amaterasu reunited with her friend Issun and the pair were off to find out why the dragon appeared. They soon met with a white dragon named Hakuzo. He told them that the dragon cursed the Celestial Plain and was a chaos dragon named Ayako. Ayako had destroyed their world in pursuit of more power but the element dragons stopped him. The elements battled with Ayako but before they could kill him, he escaped through a portal that lead to Amaterasu's world. Already exhausted by the previous battle, the dragons were scattered throughout Nippon.

Hakuzo asks Amaterasu to find his six children, each a ruler of a certain element. He gives her a glaive, which Issun later names Solar Blade, to purify them. He sensed that misfortune may have gotten to them. Amaterasu and Issun set off on their new journey. They fought against Earth, Air, Water, Thunder, Ice, and Fire. However, Amaterasu also encountered strange creatures that happen to be creations of Ayako's evil power. After purifying the six dragons, due to the dark power of Ayako that possessed them, Amaterasu finds out that Hakuzo, dragon of light, was also possessed. After battling and purifying him as well, Hakuzo tells Amaterasu that her work was not complete yet. She still had to find three more dragons which are: darkness, star, and dream.

Amaterasu goes off once again to find the remaining dragons. She finally meets up with the final element dragon. The dream dragon's name was Ariya and she was the great ruler of her world. She tells Amaterasu that Ayako has killed the gods. Amaterasu was angered by this and was more than ready to fight Ayako. Ariya sent her back to the Celestial Plain where Amaterasu confronted the dragon of chaos. A grueling battle followed until Amaterasu vanquished Ayako (while in human form) with the power of the ten dragons. The dragons had given up their lives in Amaterasu's hour of need. Amaterasu soon reverted back to wolf form and the Solar Blade shatters.

The light from the glaive drove away the curse on the heavenly plain. And Amaterasu's world was almost back to normal. ALMOST that is. The gods were now dead thanks to Ayako. Amaterasu mourned in her heart. After some time, the dragons reappeared again right before Amaterasu's eyes but they were spirits. They asked her if they could live on her world. Amaterasu let them and, in gratitude, Ariya gave her the power to speak. Since the other dragons had given Amaterasu a new power, Ariya thought that she should give her one as well, and in thanks. They scattered again and haven't been seen since.


	2. Loneliness, Weakness, Darkness

The Elements Return

Five months have passed since Amaterasu's last adventure. She has waited patiently for her new friends to return to the world. They had nowhere else to go so she let them live here. Their world was destroyed by evil and chaos. And that evil goes by the name of Ayako. He was an 'element dragon' or so they call themselves. Her new friends were also dragons, each ruled a certain element. There were ten elements, eleven to be exact. Dream, chaos, star (destiny), dark, light, fire, water, air, earth, thunder, and ice. They all died in Amaterasu's battle with Ayako. Yet, sadly, Ayako had killed all the gods that watched over the world. And the world below her suffered from the gods' power that had left the land. Amaterasu knew she couldn't rule the world all by herself.

The dragons would have to take the place of the gods. Of course, they won't replace the gods in Amaterasu's heart. Two days ago Waka had just returned from Nippon. He said he was checking the world, most likely seeing how bad it's getting. The monsters returned to Nippon even though Amaterasu killed Ayako. They returned probably from Nippon's lack of the gods' power. It was chaos. The one thing that Amaterasu wanted to abolish from her world. She hoped that that by killing Ayako, chaos will be gone. But since Ayako killed the gods, he was able to leave a seed of chaos that now flourished throughout Nippon. Waka told her that she mustn't leave the Celestial Plain in case the monsters might want to destroy it.

"Amaterasu! I'll be leaving again soon." said Waka.

"What!?!? But you just came back! How can you be leaving again so soon?" she asked.

Waka wasn't really used to hearing Amaterasu talk, since he was so used to hearing her bark or growl. But he can't take away that power. For one, he will never do that to her. And two, Ariya had given Amaterasu that power as a gift.

"I know I just came back, but the world is in so much turmoil. I'm trying to do my best to help."

"But why can't I come? I need to do my part as well!"

"Like I said before: You can't come. What if something powerful comes and you are not around to stop it? I mean, if there was something stronger than those monsters, don't you think that the first thing it will do is get rid of the strongest threats?"

"I guess you're right..."

"I AM right. So just stay here and try not to get bored. Last time, you almost burned half the trees here."

Amaterasu had an embarrased look on her face. Three weeks ago, Waka left to ease things up in Nippon so Amaterasu was alone on the Celestial Plain. She got kind of bored and practiced with the fire rosary Naoko gave her. Whatever it touched, it didn't leave a burn whatsoever. Amaterasu let out a sigh and fire blazed out of her mouth. She instantly found out that the rosary wasn't for attacking but for breathing fire. However, the burst of fire had contact with a tree and soon, the tree was aflame. Amaterasu quickly used galestorm but it spread the fire. Amaterasu panicked a bit but she used deluge to put out the fire.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" said Waka.

He instantly disappeared, leaving Amaterasu by herself. She slowly walked to the mountain on the Celestial Plain. She made her way to the top and sat down before twelve tombstones. Each one had a name on it, all of them ending in -gami. Amaterasu closed her eyes and began to pray. Ten minutes had passed until she opened her eyes. Then flowers appeared before the graves. She suddenly felt tired. Amaterasu layed down and fell fast asleep.

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She struggled to get up. This was the fifth time that she has collapsed. The snow fell gently on her light blue body. She looked at where she fell. There was blood on the snow. She was greatly troubled on how she was reborn with these wounds over her body. But she won't die from loss of blood. She was the dream dragon and it would take more than that to kill her. Besides, she was just reborn and she wasn't going to die so soon. Ariya had little memory of her past life, but she clearly remembered Amaterasu. She also remembered telling Amaterasu that the element dragons would serve her. But Ariya can't serve her now. She was too weak to fly to the Celestial Plain and her power hasn't quite returned yet.

She slowly walked. Suddenly a huge four-legged creature with a strange sheild on its face appeared. It held two iron staffs. A bull charger. Then another appeared. Ariya roared to have them back off but they weren't easily persuaded. Fighting in her current state was clearly off her list. She had to think of something quick. Ariya opened her mouth and let out a burst of blue flames. She quickly took off running. She then felt a sharp pain from her shoulder. One of her wounds had reopened and was letting out blood. It left behind a crimson trail. Ariya looked back and saw the bull chargers charging at her.

She had to hide somewhere. Her light blue eyes looked around frantically. Then she spotted a small cave, small enough for her to fit in. There was even a small tree that hid the entrance. She forced her way in and looked back at the entrance. She barely fits in the entrance hole. Ariya could hear the bull chargers roaring. She hoped that the cave was too small for them to fit in. She felt their footsteps close by. Then they left. She now felt the footsteps grow fainter and fainter. Ariya would rest in this small cave for now.

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There was darkness all around. He was in the underworld of Nippon. He wasn't too surprised that he would be here after everything that he did. Ayako suddenly felt a strange feeling that someone was watching him. He could also feel its great power. Then a huge mechanical ball appeared. It had strange markings on it.

"You were defeated by the wolf goddess. And you were so close to ruling the world above. Just like me..." it said.

The voice sounded almost robotic. Just by hearing it, Ayako could tell that this creature wasn't alive.

"I know I was close. And I was close last time too."

"Last time?"

"Yes. I was about to be the ruler of my world. That is until Ariya came in."

"Ariya seems to be the wolf goddess of your world. And the wolf goddess is the Ariya of my world. We both weren't able to conquer the world above."

"But maybe together..."

"We will both be able to shun the light."

The dark alliance was formed but how long will it last?


	3. Underworld Breakout

The Elements Return

Amaterasu woke up. She has no idea how long she was asleep. She slowly got up and began to stretch.

"Did you have a nice nap?" said a voice.

The voice wasn't Waka's but someone else's. It was also very familiar. Amaterasu turned around and met with green eyes. A big dragon stood before her. He was an earthy brown color and he had spikes run down his back. However, his tail didn't have a spiked ball at the end but a pointed arrow.

"T-Tutsoku?" asked Amaterasu.

"You're very surprised, aren't you? And yes, it's me." he replied.

"But how did you get up here?"

"I don't know. I just woke up and I was here. I sensed your power and found you up here."

"Well I'm very happy that you are here. You see, Waka just left and I thought I was going to be all by myself. But now that you're here, I will have some company."

"My only wish is to serve you, Amaterasu. You remember, right?"

Amaterasu thought back and she remembered that day. When the ten dragon spirits appeared before her and asked her to live in her world. Ariya clearly said that the dragons would serve her[Amaterasu. But Amaterasu doesn't want to think of them as servants.

"Yes, I do remember. But listen. I need to know where the others are. The world below is in chaos without the other gods."

"You want us to take the gods' place?"

"You must because Nippon is in turmoil without the gods."

"I see...But I don't know if the others have been reborn yet. Besides, there were twelve gods and there's only ten dragons!"

"Well, some of you would have to take two roles or something."

"Amaterasu...Your troubles have slightly weakened you." said Tutsoku, going off topic.

"What!?"

"Your worries and the sort have slightly weakened you. But I may help you."

Tutsoku's green eyes stared into Amaterasu's amber eyes. He muttered something that Amaterasu could barely hear. He said something that sounded like 'That would be perfect'. He grabbed a handful (pawful?) of dirt and began to crush it in his paws. His paws were tightly shut. Amaterasu stared, wondering what he was doing. Tutsoku opened his paw and there was a lovely gem.

"This is amber. Gemstones have magical properties and this one will give you the strength that you need. I just need some metal so you can wear it around your neck."

"Thank you, Tutsoku. It's very beautiful."

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Meanwhile, in the depths of the Underworld...

"Now is the time." said Yami. "The world is weak now without the gods."

"And how do you propose we get out of the Underworld?" asked Ayako.

"Leave that to me..."

Dark power surrounded Yami and it blasted to a nearby wall. It left an impressive hole.

"You handle the rest." said Yami.

Ayako's claws were suddenly surrounded by black fire. He lunged at the hole and began to claw at it. Then...A bright light flashed and the smell of fresh air blew. Ayako had reached the surface but the scenery wasn't familiar. It was a deserted island with withering plant life. It was... perfect. Yami soon rolled out of the hole. It looked like he was looking at the scenery. That is 'it looked like'. He could be thinking of the next stage of their plan. But who knew?

"Now is the time. The world is weak now without the gods. It is time for evil to rule." said Yami.

Out of the hole where they had come out of, a fountain of darkness exploded out of it. It flowed over the island and soon into the sea. The sky went from its light blue to a blood red. And the darkness spread and left the land and sea black as the night sky.

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Amaterasu stopped in her tracks. She and Tutsoku were having a bit of a race from the mountain to the green plain. She was winning until now.

"Why have you stopped, Amaterasu?" Tutsoku called out a couple of yards behind Amaterasu.

"I'm getting a really bad feeling..." she replied.

Tutsoku stopped and stood next to her. They saw the blue sky become red. They both saw the ground become black.

"It's happening again!" said Amaterasu.

Before Tutsoku could say something the ground began to shake. It soon began to break apart in half. Amaterasu was on one side while Tutsoku was on the other. He quickly leaped with all his strength and barely made it to the other side. The ground crumbled underneath them. The two of them fell. Tutsoku used his power to form steps from the clumps of broken earth. He grabbed Amaterasu by her fur with his jaws and carefully placed her on the first step. They carefully jumped from one step to the other. Tutsoku concentrated to keep the rocks from falling.

"Tutsoku! What is going to happen when we reach Nippon!?"

He didn't know or want to think about it, and Amaterasu somewhat regretted asking that question.

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There was a violent earthquake. Trees fell from the magnitude. Waka looked at the sky, which was now blood red.

"I must have spoken too soon," he said with concern in his voice. "Please be alright..."

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Ariya woke with a startle as she felt the ground shake. She felt better now and some of her wounds have healed. She looked outside the cave and saw a wave of darkness flowing over the snow. She couldn't run now so her only option was a barrier. She concentrated and used all the power within her to bring up a barrier. Then...Darkness.

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I know it's shocking that Yami can talk but I do my best to make his speech as emotionless as possible. Anyway, please review. The button is right there. 


	4. Painful Memories

The Elements Return

The sun had just set and it was early evening. Clouds were in the sky, a sign that it would soon rain. Also in the sky was a red dragon. His wings weren't very powerful so they were only used for gliding. He floated down to the earth below and landed before a cave. He ran eagerly to the cave. Inside was his mate, another red dragon. They were pretty much the typical fire-breathing dragons and they had a nest of red eggs. They both looked at them but noticed that, among the other eggs, there was a light blue egg. It had white swirls and crescent moons on it. This egg was not of their own but what surprised them was how it just appeared. For one day ago, it was not there. Suddenly, one of the red eggs began to move slightly. Then another. They were hatching!

The soon-to-be parents watched excitedly. The blue egg began to move as well. If it just appeared yesterday, how could it already be hatching? The air was soon filled with chirps from the hatchlings. They were already starting to walk. Then the blue egg's shell began to break. The baby inside continued to break more of the shell until it was easier to get out. A hatchling came out that was the same color as the egg. It also had the same design on its body and a crescent moon at the end of its tail. It looked up at its "parents". They both had a look of disgust on their faces. The female picked up the hatchling and dropped it outside the cave. She (red dragon) let out a growl and her family rushed outside. She led them away...from it.

The blue dragon looked at her "family" leave. She knew that they didn't want her. She observed her surroundings. She didn't know what anything was, she felt...lost. Thunder boomed in the sky, making the blue dragon jump. She looked up at the sky, which was now clouded. A raindrop fell on her snout, then more drops began to fall. A few minutes went by and there was already a puddle underneath the blue dragon. For some reason, she didn't want to go in the cave. She sat down in the puddle and looked down. She looked at her reflection. She stared at it, wondering why she was different. As she stared, she wasn't aware that a black dragon was walking to her. It had beautiful ruby red eyes and under its wings was a brilliant red. The black dragon sat down next to the blue one.

The blue dragon slightly flinched by the presence of the black dragon. She didn't know whether to trust this dragon or just run away. It could be possible that this dragon is looking for an easy meal, but then again...if it wanted to eat her it would have attacked, not sit down next to her. The black dragon extended its wing, shielding the blue dragon from the rain.

"Come with me..." said the black dragon.

The black dragon got up and walked away. The blue dragon got up as well and followed her. She felt a strange feeling of happiness as she did. She didn't understand exactly why she was having that feeling, but it didn't matter to her. She obediantly followed the black dragon, knowing that, although her life began at a bad start, it was going to be better now...Ariya woke up, surprised. She couldn't believe that she dreamt of her past. It was also the first time that it happened. She soon knew that, not only was she dreaming of her past, but her homeworld as well. Ariya felt a bitter hate when she thought of her world. Ayako had destroyed it and he was about to, possibly, destroy this one as well. She would do everything in her power to stop him.

She looked outside. Nothing but darkness. She had a strange feeling that Ayako had something to do with it. Of course, even if she was able to kill him, he will be reborn. What can she do to stop the rebirth cycle of Ayako? She thought and thought but nothing came. She just couldn't stop the cycle. However, if a dragon from the past didn't die, there would be more hope for her...

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It was a dark night. The moon shone brightly for it was the night of a full moon. A few clouds were in the sky but nothing more. A dragon, with torn wings, flew in the sky. It was amazing how he was able to fly with such wings. His yellow eyes glowed with a bit of malice hidden in them. He flew down and landed before a cave. His mate, the dragon of darkness, and his offspring, a dragon skeleton that was alive, were sleeping inside. The dragon skeleton was actually the dragon of death. Though he was death, he had a soul. A soul of light. He was going to rule the underworld of their world. The world was one of balance. But Ayako would disrupt that balance. He just recently heard from an oracle that his offspring will be a great ruler of both the underworld and the world above. One would think that Ayako would be proud of his child, but that would be naive.

He wanted to rule them both by himself and he will get rid of any threat to his power, even if it means...killing his son. He was too young to be able to be reborn, so killing him now would be best. But there was also the matter of Terasame. She would come and try to kill Ayako for taking their son's life. Ayako would just have to kill her as well. Usually, when an element dragon dies, their memory is erased. They would have no memory of their past life, the life they lived before dying. As he walked inside the cave, the moon was hidden behind the clouds. Suddenly, screeches and snarls could be heard from the cave. A great commotion. A small roar soon echoed through the cave, followed by another louder one. The clouds passed the moon and its light shone. In the moonlight, there stood a figure before the cave.

Its claws were dripped with blood and its face was covered by it. There was no emotion in its yellow eyes. But one thing could be easily seen. The soul of pure darkness in that body. He took off into the sky. He knew that he WILL be the almighty tyrant of this world and nothing will stop him. Terasame woke up with a jolt. She looked around and knew that she was in the Moon Cave...again. She had finally been reborn, but she wasn't able to get rid of that horrible memory. Her memory had not been erased and, hopefully, Hakuzo's wasn't either. She looked the same as before but her tail now ended in a fork. Actually, it was more of a three-pronged fork. It relieved her that it looked nothing like Ayako's tail, whose tail was split in three.

There was darkness everywhere but it didn't affect her. After all, she IS the dragon of darkness. She wondered if it was dark outside the cave too. Should she leave or stay? She decided to leave so she could search for her family and maybe Amaterasu. She flapped her strong wings and took into the air.

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Amaterasu and Tutsoku safely made it to Nippon, but a massive curse was covering the land. They had made it to Kamiki Village, where Sakuya's tree was. Tutsoku never came here so he didn't really know where he was going. He followed Amaterasu, who was running like the wind to the great tree. Being the new god of earth, he couldn't run like the wind himself. His body wasn't made for that business. Akira, dragon of air, would catch up with Amaterasu with ease since she had long legs. However, Tutsoku's legs were a bit short. They were very strong, though. They were not meant for running, but to make him unmovable...like a rock. Stability was his main concern.

Amaterasu was gone from his sight, but he was able to follow her scent. She had a lovely scent like that of roses or blossoms. Her scent reminded him of his mother's scent. Terasame had a slightly different scent. It was mostly a water lily scent. He snapped out of these thoughts and continued on. He reached the tree and saw a woman dressed in a pink bikini. He had never met her, but, judging by Amaterasu's expression, he knew that she was Amaterasu's friend.

"Okami Amaterasu...Though I am happy to see you again, I don't think I'll see you again."

"What do you mean?" asked Amaterasu with a lot of concern in her voice.

"Without the gods' power in the land, I was unable to fully protect the village. And now the Guardian Saplings throughout Nippon have withered and died. I don't have the strength now to help you...This curse is the strongest that I've ever seen before. If you can make my tree bloom, then the tree's power will blow away the darkness that has befallen Kamiki..."

Sakuya slowly vanished, leaving Amaterasu with a dilemma in her paws. She turned around and saw Tutsoku.

"Did you hear all that?" she asked him.

"Yes, I have."

"There is only one way...I'm going to need your help. You are the new god of earth so you need to help me with this."

Tutsoku nodded and spread out his legs a bit. This stance makes him unmovable and everyone has tried in his world. Naoko the fire dragon, who was the strongest of the worldly elements, tried moving him but was unsuccessful. Tutsoku let his power and energy flow through his legs and into the darkened earth. Amaterasu looked at the tree and she was able to feel power flow through the tree. She readied her brush. Tutsoku saw the tree bloom into pink flowers. He saw the darkness being pushed back by the tree's great power. The land became a lush green and the sun shone with beautiful light.

Meanwhile...

Terasame had only flown a short distance until she saw a piece of the darkness disappear. She flew in that direction for she knew that no one can get rid of this darkness...except Amaterasu. And, as she flew, Terasame hoped that at least one of her children were with the sun goddess. Reunion...

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I was about to make a prequel that featured the lives of the element dragons but I decided that it would be better to mix it with this story. Now you knew a bit of the dragons' background. Now what do you think of this story so far? Is it good or not? Review please. 


	5. Reunion and Curse

The Elements Return

Amaterasu and Tutsoku continued to look at the beautiful tree, which was full of blossoms. Tutsoku could feel very faint vibrations, and they were coming closer. He turned away from the tree and saw a small green light bouncing to them. At first, he didn't know what it was until he heard the green light speak.

"Why do you keep popping up in the same place, furball?" it said.

Amaterasu turned to the green light and a look of happiness was on her face.

"Issun!" said Amaterasu.

"What the-!? You can talk!?"

"Well, of course I can."

"But how did you-!?"

"Ariya gave me this gift. It's really helped me out because now I can talk to you and Waka."

"You really enjoy talking to that half-baked prophet?"

"I can't talk to the other gods because they're dead now, remember?"

"Of course I remember. How can I forget that fight? It's making my job harder for me."

"What do you mean harder?"

"Well, people have been praying to the gods to ease the suffering down here. But since there are no gods, they kind of lost it."

"Do you mean hope?" interrupted Tutsoku.

"That and a bit of faith too. I've been doing my best telling them that you will come and make everything better, Ammy."

"Don't worry," said Amaterasu. "We will have new gods now."

"What!?"

"The dragons will be the new gods and, already, Tutsoku is the new god of earth."

"So he's a god now? I know that dragons are divine and all, but can their power really be god-like?"

"We did alright in our world," said Tutsoku. "Why not this world?"

"Issun, these are desparate times so try to understand that we need the dragons."

"I know! I know! But I hope you won't forget who gave you the Celestial Brush techniques!"

"I won't. Ever."

"We should get going, Amaterasu," said Tutsoku. "Who knows what else lies beyond this village."

Issun jumped onto Amaterasu's head and sat down. Tutsoku and Amaterasu walked down to the village. However, before passing beyond the arch that led to the village, Tutsoku somewhat hesitated. Amaterasu noticed this and she doubted that Issun did. She wondered why Tutsoku hesitated to get in the village. Tutsoku had a good reason why. In his world, the only people that lived there were dragon-slayers. There were very few that didn't want to kill dragons. And most dragon-slayers wanted to kill an element dragon. However, a dragon-slayer was lucky to even wound an element dragon. Why do they want to kill dragons? They believe that dragons are symbols of evil and misfortune.

Dragon-slayers then go to kill dragons to 'rid' the world of evil beings. Sadly, dragons have another symbolic meaning...happiness. Tutsoku was slightly nervous when people caught sight of him. Amaterasu gave him a look to not worry. The rice field of Kushi was barren and so was the turnip field of Mushi's mother. Amaterasu thought about how his mom won't have to worry about digging in her field since there is nothing to dig up. They walked to where Kushi was standing, which was next to the empty field.

"Snowy and Issun!" she said. "Oh, um, who's your friend?"

"That's Tutsoku," said Issun. "He's the new god of earth!"

"Really!? I hope you don't mind me asking, but can you make the rice grow in my field?" she asked Tutsoku.

Tutsoku nodded and got into that same stance as before. Before everyone's eyes, rice plants began to grow from the ground. Not only that, but also turnips began to grow as well in the other field.

"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Kushi. "Here, you can have this."

She gave Tutsoku and Amaterasu some rice balls and went off to harvest the rice. It made Tutsoku feel good about what he did. Amaterasu headed off to the entrance of the village and Tutsoku followed. He saw Amaterasu stop suddenly. He looked at her and saw that she was looking at the sky. He looked as well and saw a black spectacle. It was black and red, and dived down to where they were. Amaterasu began to growl. As it came closer and closer, Tutsoku soon smelled the scent of water lilies. His eyes widened. Is that really who he thinks it is?

"Tutsoku!" said Terasame with a bit of relief in her voice.

She landed before them and quickly wrapped her wings around Tutsoku. It was her way of hugging him. Though Tutsoku was happy to his mother, he was embarrased especially with Amaterasu and Issun watching. She kept saying that her 'baby boy' was okay. He didn't like it when Terasame babied him like that. He could hear Issun chuckle, and he heard something that sounded like 'mama's boy' from Issun. Tutsoku merely ignored him and his feeling of embarassment faded. Terasame pulled back and looked at Amaterasu.

"He hasn't been any trouble for you, has he?" she asked.

"No. Not at all. In fact, he helped me quite a lot."

"Hey, Ammy! How come you didn't talk to Kushi?" interrupted Issun.

"Don't you think it will freak out everyone else if they heard me talk?"

"You have a point there..."

"And that's why I didn't talk."

Amaterasu walked away from the two dragons, heading toward Shinshu Field. She looked back at them.

"Come on! We need to find the others!" she exclaimed.

She then took off with Terasame and Tutsoku following. They ran a short distance until they reached the most beautiful field of Nippon. The land was definitely cursed but, this time, the curse was covering more of the land. The three walked up to the tree and looked at it. The Guardian Sapling was black as, well, Terasame. Amaterasu looked at Tutsoku, who understood her gaze. He got into the same stance as before and let his power run through the earth and into the tree. Amaterasu readied her brush and...The Guardian Sapling burst into petals. They saw the curse blow away and it was seen no more.

Though the curse was gone, Amaterasu could feel no breeze whatsoever. And the water of the river looked disgustingly dirty. She knew that she needs to find Akira, the dragon of air, and Mayumi, the dragon of water. Amaterasu soon noticed that Terasame was looking intently at a cave. It was the cave that lead to Hana Valley. It was obvious that there was something there. Good or bad? Amaterasu didn't know, but she needs to find out what it is. She dashed off toward the great cave. Terasame and Tutsoku obediantly followed. They went through the cave and were in Hana Valley. It was cursed too, which wasn't a surprise.

Before, Amaterasu didn't feel what kind of feeling this place was giving off, but she soon knew. She knew what was here. It wasn't good...She followed the path. The three walked through Hana Valley and where once in awhile slowed down since there were more cursed trees. But they soon made it to where the Guardian Sapling of Hana Valley was. However, Amaterasu was very surprised at what she found. Where the sapling once stood beautifully, there was a great black creature. Amaterasu didn't know whether it was an animal or anything else. But when she looked closer, she knew exactly what it was.

I know what the creature is but I'm having a hard time trying to think what will happen after that. If anyone has any ideas, put it in a review. Don't worry, I check my stories all the time.


	6. The Great Cursed Tree

The Elements Return

The dark creature was the Guardian Sapling itself. Amaterasu was horrified to see that it was bewitched and under the control of evil. She couldn't believe that such a thing can happen to one of Sakuya's trees. She began to growl at it and so were the dragons. It had a grotesque head and five vine-like arms. It had teeth in its mouth and a snake-like tongue. It WAS like a tree since it was rooted to the ground and couldn't move. The only thing that could move was its head and arms. It looked at them, which amazed Amaterasu since it had no eyes.

"It sensed the vibrations of our footsteps." said Tutsoku.

"Can someone really do that?" asked Issun.

"Yes, anyone can, even I can do it. But enough talk. We have to get rid of this thing."

Amaterasu and Terasame nodded their heads. Tutsoku moved behind the bewitched plant while Terasame and Amaterasu faced it head-on. The plant swung one of its vine arms, which was easily avoided. Tutsoku suddenly leaped and bit down on one of the arms. He then used his claws to slice through the vine. It easily cut through and fell down to the floor. It made a big 'thud' when it hit. Amaterasu thought how easily it would be to kill it until a purplish-black gas leaked out of the severed arm. The arm began to grow back and was rejuvenated to a new arm. The plant was tougher than it looked. Amaterasu began to think carefully. What can she do to make the arm not grow back?

She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that the plant's arm was up high, ready to swing at the white wolf. The arm came down but a wall suddenly came up to block the assault. Amaterasu came out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of the impact of the arm and the wall. The wall was made of rock, so Amaterasu knew that Tutsoku had used his power to protect her. "Stop spacing out, furball!" yelled Issun. Amaterasu moved around the wall and used Inferno to burn off the arm. Sure enough, the arm burned right off and fell to the floor with a great 'thud'. The plant let out a high-pitched screech. This time, the arm didn't grow back. Amaterasu had a wolf-like grin on her face. She knew that Tutsoku and Terasame now knew that fire can stop the plant.

"Tutsoku! Distract the plant!" yelled Amaterasu. "Terasame, you will use fire to burn the arm after I cut it off!"

The two dragons gave a little nod and knew the plan. Tutsoku yawned and layed down as if he was going to sleep. The plant saw this and felt somewhat insulted. It was like the dragon didn't find him dangerous and would rather take a nap than waste time on the bewitched plant. The plant creature let out a strange roar and lifted up its vine arm. It swung it down and, at the same time, a beautiful mist appeared. Amaterasu, knowing that the mist was Terasame's, lunged forward and sliced of the arm with her Thunder Strike glaive. Terasame quickly breathed out fire from her mouth. The vine didn't grow back and there was only three more arms to go...

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Meanwhile...

"Ayako, you know what to do now. Go forth and unleash the demons of the Underworld!" roared Yami.

Ayako moved to the hole of the Underworld where he and Yami had escaped. He let out a terrifying roar and soon dark creatures began to emerge from the hole. It was too dark to see their features but it seemed better to not see. Some were walking, others were flying, and few were slithering across the floor.

"Oni! You shall obey me for I am the absolute ruler of darkness!" roared Yami.

The Oni cheered in their evil-like way. Nobody noticed that when they did, Ayako's eyes glowed. Ayako looked briefly at Yami but quickly reverted his gaze at the newly formed army of demons.

"Go forth and crush all who stand against the darkness!" yelled Ayako.

The demons dispatched but some were ordered to stay. They were to be used as guards of the island, in case if anyone would try to penetrate the curse that surrounded the island.

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Ariya woke up after another nap. She definitely felt better now and all her wounds have healed. Her barrier was still up so she had nothing to worry about anymore, except the curse outside the cave. She slowly rose and stretched out her legs. She knew that now was the time to leave. She can't stay in the cave forever and she must find Amaterasu. She cautiously looked outside and slowly stepped out. She observed what had happened to the icy land of Kamui. She flapped her wings and took to the sky. Her barrier was now gone. She flew steadily and looked down at the land. There was no place that wasn't cursed. Ariya sighed for a moment until her eyes caught sight of something. Down below, there was a small piece of land that wasn't cursed.

She dived down to the area and landed on the white snow. She looked carefully at the surroundings. It was a village but she didn't know which. The only village that she knew was  
Wep'keer, the village up north. What Ariya didn't know was that this was the hidden Oina village that had been sealed away from the rest of the world. It was the village of Verai (I spelled the name wrong by accident in the last story).

"Who are you!?" said a voice.

Ariya soon caught sight of a girl wearing a black and violet kimono.

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There was only one vine arm left. Amaterasu saw Terasame run to the last one and slash right through it with her claws. Amaterasu then used Inferno to keep the vine from growing back. The plant was defenseless now. She soon felt some power run through the earth and it was undoubtedly Tutsoku's. She used her brush to cleanse the Guardian Sapling from evil. The black tree changed into a beautiful cherry blossom tree with lovely pink flowers. Amaterasu and the others saw the darkness blow away by the tree's power. At last, Hana Valley was back to normal.

Amaterasu breathed in the fresh scent of flora. The air felt clean of the stagnantness it once had. But Amaterasu caught the scent of something else. It was nice scent, she had to admit, but it was hard to explain what it smelt like. She followed the scent to where a small cave with four torches was at. The other two dragons followed too. In the cave was Hakuzo, the dragon of light. Terasame ran with great speed to him. She lowered her head since he was sleeping. She nudged him lightly and Hakuzo's eyes opened. He had a surprised look on his face. He got up quickly and looked at her.

"Terasame, is it really you!?"

"None other." she replied happily.

Amaterasu could feel that they were both overwhelmed by happiness. Tutsoku ran up to his father with a grin on his face. Amaterasu felt happy as well to see the three reunite. But the family wasn't complete yet. There was still more family members to find. Amaterasu signalled them to follow her with a quick movement of her head. They obediantly did so. They came outside of Hana Valley and into Shinshu Field.

"Tutsoku, I need you to stay and protect this area, especially Kamiki Village." said Amaterasu.

"What? Are you sure?"

"Of course she's sure." interrupted Issun. "Now go on while your mommy and daddy go do grown up stuff."

Tutsoku had an annoyed look on his face. It soon faded away while he said his goodbyes to his mother and father. Tutsoku walked away to the direction of Kamiki Village. Terasame had a look of sadness on her face and Hakuzo did as well. The three of them went off to where Agata Forest was at. They knew that they had a long journey ahead of them.

Alright, I'd like to thank Dragon Man 180 for the suggestion of having Tutsoku stay. Thank you very much!


	7. The New Lord of Darkness

Quick reference: Oni are the demons of the underworld but I guess most of you know already. Anyway continue with the story.

The Elements Return

"Hakuzo didn't lose his memory..." thought Terasame as she followed Amaterasu.

What amazed her is that Tutsoku didn't either. Ever since that unspeakable act that Ayako had done, the element dragons haven't lost their memory. What's worse is that Terasame will forever remember that horrible tragedy. Her thoughts were interrupted when Issun spoke to her.

"Hey, Terasame. Not that its any of my business but I was wondering...When you called Tutsoku your 'baby boy' does that mean he's the youngest?"

"Uh, yes, he is the youngest."

"So who's the oldest?" asked Amaterasu.

"That would be Ariya."

"I was talking about the worldly ones."

"Oh! Well then, that would be Naoko. He was first, then Seiji, Nagura, Mayumi, Akira, and, finally, Tutsoku. That's the order of when they hatched."

Terasame will never forget that day (not that she'll ever will now) when her children hatched from their eggs. Ariya was all grown-up already and she was there at the time of the hatching too. And she also treated them as her own siblings. They reached the cave that led to Agata Forest. The dock was still there but the water was disgustingly brown and black.

"Well that's just great! Now how are we supposed to get to Agata Forest?" complained Issun.

"Don't you pay attention, Issun? Dragons have wings." said Amaterasu.

"Oh...Yeah. I knew that!"

"Sure you did." said Hakuzo very sarcasticly.

Amaterasu jumped on Terasame's back who soon took to the air. Hakuzo flapped his feathered wings and followed her. He still looked the same since the last time Amaterasu saw him. Terasame was slightly sad about the brief reunion between Tutsoku and Hakuzo. She wished that Tutsoku could stay a bit longer with them. But it was Amaterasu's order and she mustn't question the will of the sun goddess. After all, it was Amaterasu who killed Ayako not Terasame, no matter how much she really wanted to. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice that she was flying downward. Hakuzo bumped into her lightly to snap her out of her thoughts and pay attention to what she was doing.

Terasame missed his protectiveness and his love despite the 'short' time that they were away from each other. She also missed his scent which was the scent of lilac, which Amaterasu soon found out when they had left Hana Valley. Hakuzo's eyes were the color of blue sapphires that seemed opposite of Terasame's ruby red eyes. Yet, it was those eyes that were very deceiving. Despite being the dragon of light, he has darkness with himself just as Terasame has light within herself. Though there were few people who didn't want to kill dragons back in their world, they still considered Terasame as the origin of all that is evil. (sounds familiar, doesn't it?) They even made up a myth that she brought about all the evil beings of darkness in the Underworld, and that was obviously not true.

However, Hakuzo's pacifist-like ways didn't mean he wasn't a fighter. When he fought, he would fight with great ruthlessness and will continue until either the victim was dead or Terasame would tell him to stop. Or until whoever he was fighting with will defeat him. Below was the cursed state of Agata Forest. Hakuzo and Terasame flew down and landed before a cave behind a waterfall that wasn't exactly made of water. Amaterasu jumped off and led them to a withered tree. Suddenly, the Guardian Sapling bursted into pink cherry blossoms. Of course, no one could see if the curse was being swept away but they all knew. A few moments later, they walked out of the cave, and the trees and wildlife had returned to the forest. However, Deep Abyss was cursed still despite the Guardian Sapling's power.

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The last imp was crushed under a huge rock. Tutsoku looked at the pile of imp corpses which already began to stink. "Such an abhorrent stench..." thought Tutsoku. He moved his arm in a way that made the earth suddenly sweep over the corpses. It was his way of burying them. He felt the vibrations of their footsteps all the way from Sakuya's tree in Kamiki. And he caught them next to the Guardian Sapling of Shinshu Field. They were probably going to try to get into the village and cause a big heap of trouble. But Tutsoku didn't really care of what they were planning. He was just following Amaterasu's orders. That didn't mean that he didn't CARE about Kamiki, in fact, he likes it.

When he came back to Kamiki, Kushi ran up to him and asked why "Snowy" didn't come back with me. He told her that Amaterasu ordered him to protect this place. But when he said that, Susano jumped into the conversation. He started saying stuff like 'I can protect the village myself.' and 'I don't need your help' and other things. Kushi calmed him down and warned him not to anger a god. Of course, that shut him up. Why would anyone want to anger a god and feel their wrath? But Tutsoku wasn't easily angered. Actually, it would take A LOT to anger him. Naoko, on the other hand, was different. Tutsoku knew that Susano means well and told him that it wasn't a big deal. Tutsoku walked away toward Sakuya's tree while making a few trees bloom along the way.

Tutsoku snapped out of this brief flashback and looked around, searching for more monsters. There was nothing there but one can not trust their eyes. He soon took off and wandered around Shinshu Field.

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It was a girl with a black and violet kimono. She had a purple mask of a fox and her black hair had a streak of violet too. Ariya noticed that she also had two swords, one on her left and right side.

"Who am I? I'm the dragon of dreams." replied Ariya.

"Dragon of dreams? I've never heard of you."

"Oh, but I'm sure you have met my brothers. Fire and ice."

"You're related to the ice dragon that plagued the south of Kamui? The same ice dragon that killed many of my tribe!?" she yelled.

"No need to yell. And, yes, I am related but not through blood. I haven't been in Kamui for quite some time. Well, at any rate, do you know the whereabouts of Amaterasu?"

"Amaterasu? Um, no, I don't know. I haven't seen the sun goddess for a long time already. But I might know someone who does know."

"Who?"

"He goes by the name of Oki. He comes from the northern village of Wep'keer. But I think he lives somewhere else now. I don't exactly know where he is now."

"I've heard of Oki but I never actually got to meet him. I must thank you for helping me and I must be off soon. Then again...Outside this village, there is a cursed zone out there."

"It's cursed!? You shouldn't go out there! Please, come to my house. At least until the curse vanishes."

Ariya followed the girl to her house. She guessed that maybe the girl was 19 or 20. Inside the house was a fire which wasn't much of a surprise. Ariya looked around and saw a pair of masks. One was a bear and the other was a hawk. Though they were clean, Ariya could smell a small trace of blood. On some strange impulse, Ariya wanted to read the girl's mind. But that would be kind of direspectful to someone who's inviting you inside their house, right?

"Oh! How rude of me! I forgot to tell you my name. It's Zira." she said.

"My name is Ariya."

Ariya made herself comfortable on the floor. The fire blazed beautifully which looked almost hypnotic. After half an hour, Ariya felt a strange presence outside. She looked at Zira, who was sharpening her swords. It seemed that the female warrior didn't sense a thing. Ariya slowly rose.

"Where are you going?" asked Zira.

"I think it's time for me to leave. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Alright then. Be careful, please!"

Ariya walked out of the house and looked in the direction of that strange presence. It felt familiar but she wasn't sure exactly what. She saw someone in the distance. She quickly took off into that direction. As she got closer, she knew who it was. He was wearing a hawk hat with strange wing-like things. He was wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt with purple pants. He was also wearing shoes that made him look taller.

"Hello again, prophet." she said.

"I see you still remember me. What an honor from the moon goddess."

"Moon goddess?"

"Don't you know? You're the new moon god. If you want to know, I saw a brief vision of your future. You should have known by now since you can see into the future at any time as you please...Or am I mistaken?"

Ariya looked intently at Waka for a brief second but her gaze soon softened.

"There's a consequence for that ability. Looking into the future drains a great amount of my power and, now, I don't have all my power yet."

For awhile, Waka was grateful about his gift. Though he couldn't freely look into the future, at least it doesn't take away his strength.

"Anyway, you know where Amaterasu is, right?" asked Ariya.

"Well, she should be by Taka Pass by now. I've been kind of spying on her..." he replied rather shyly.

Ariya chuckled at his reply. Then she suddenly heard a voice which said: "I wonder what ma cherie's thinking about. I hope she has me in her thoughts..." Ariya's light blue eyes widened a bit. She knew who's thought that was. What amazed her was how loud Waka was thinking.

"Thinking about Amaterasu?"

"Huh? No, I wasn't." said Waka, who regretted saying that. He completely forgotten Ariya's ability to read minds. And, now that he thinks about it, it would be rather annoying.

"Don't deny it! There's no point trying to lie to me!"

"Okay, so I was. But why do you care?"

"No apparent reason. Well, do you know how to get rid of the cursed zone outside this village?"

"I could try to pull off one of those Great Divine Interventions."

"Go do it then! The sooner we find Amaterasu, the better. And I don't want to leave this land cursed. It was bad enough without a cursed zone."

The two flew off into the sky, in the direction of the Guardian Sapling.

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"So, Tutsoku is the new god of earth? What god will I be?" asked Hakuzo.

The trio and Issun were already by the bridge that lead to Taka Pass. Amaterasu looked up, thinking.

"I want to know too!" said Terasame.

"Hold on, furball! Remember that there's only 13 brush techniques! And only one is officially yours. So, there's only 12."

"I know that already!" barked Amaterasu. "Wait a sec-I thought you weren't going to call me 'furball' anymore."

"That was then, this is now!"

Amaterasu growled for a bit but soon went back to thinking.

"Okay. Hakuzo, you can be the god of restoration and Terasame, you can be the goddess of mist. After all, you did enhance my Veil of Mist brush technique."

"Um, Ammy? Tutsoku enhanced your Cherry Bomb power, remember? So does that mean he'll also be the god of explosions?" asked Issun.

"I guess so." she replied.

They had already made it to Taka Pass. It was cursed as well and the grass was a dry yellow. The lack of nourishing rain had dried out the plains in the mountains. Amaterasu knew that, most likely, that Akira was nearby. And, like last time, she'll be in the Gale Shrine of Kusa Village. With Akira being the goddess of wind, the great windmill in the village will work.

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An imp stood, shivering in fear before the Dark Lord, Yami.

"I'm sorry if I failed you, my lord! But, please, spare my life! A brown dragon came out of nowhere and attacked us!"

The imp managed to escape from the attack of Tutsoku. It was amazing that he was able to get away. Yami didn't say anything. Instead, he opened up and revealed an orb that held a seal embryo in the inside. It glowed and zapped the imp, instantly killing him. Ayako was at the left of Yami and he watched. Immediately after the glow ceased, Ayako's claws were surrounded with dark flames. He lunged at Yami and his claws smashed through the orb. His claws held on tightly around the embryo's neck. Yami roared with great magnitude. Ayako then pulled out the embryo and threw it onto the floor. He walked up next to the embryo and bit down into the neck. The embryo detiorated into a black puddle of ooze. The ooze soon evaporated along with the ball that was Yami's body. Ayako knew that Yami was planning to kill him soon. Unfortunately for Yami, Ayako was one-step ahead of him. Yami was no longer the Dark Lord. Now, a new reign of the new Dark Lord will take place. The new Dark Lord is Ayako, the dragon of chaos.


	8. The Wind of Kusa Village

The Elements Return

Amaterasu, Hakuzo, and Terasame walked through a cave. The cave led to the Guardian Sapling. The tree soon bloomed when Amaterasu got close to it. The tree's power wiped away the darkness and brought back some nourishment to the grass. Then a treasure chest appeared before the tree. Amaterasu knocked off the lid and peered inside. There was a necklace with a piece of amber hanging from it. It was the exact piece that Tutsoku had shown to Amaterasu back at the Celestial Plain. He had finally finished it and it looked very beautiful. Amaterasu couldn't wait to try it on.

"Here, furball. I'll help you with that since I DO have hands." said Issun as he hopped over to the chest.

He grabbed the necklace and began to spin it around. After three twirls, he tossed it up into the air and the necklace landed perfectly around Amaterasu's neck.

"It looks good on ya! Now we should get going already. No use wasting time here." said Issun.

Amaterasu jumped off the cliff which kind of freaked out Hakuzo and Terasame. Amaterasu landed safely at the bottom and waited for the two dragons. The two jumped off as well, but in fear of breaking a leg, they used their wings to glide. They walked down a path that soon led to another path that had stones or something on the floor. It was kind of steep but not too steep. The two dragons followed Amaterasu, and they were amazed at how fast she was able to run up the hill. They soon reached the top where Kusa Village was. Amaterasu easily felt the evil around the village. She had to go to the Gale Shrine but she will stop by Princess Fuse's house.

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Tutsoku came down a hill and saw a small shrine by the water. He could easily see the Moon Cave in the distance. He walked into the shrine and saw a priest inside.

"Ahhh! Are you a demon!?" yelled the frightened priest. "If you are, don't come any closer!"

He grabbed a broom and swung it around. But he soon stopped.

"What kind of demon are you if you are able to possess holy light?" he asked.

"Maybe it's because I'm not a demon." replied Tutsoku.

"So you can talk! You are not a demon if you were able to answer so calmly."

"Um, who are you anyway?"

"I'm Mika! The priest of this shrine. This shrine was used to purify people before they entered the Moon Cave. But I must ask: Why do you have such strong holy light? I know that dragons are divine but why do you-?"

"Well, I am the new god of earth so it's not surprising that my divine power had gotten stronger."

"You're a god!? I'm so sorry! I-I must give you an offering!"

Mika looked around the shrine to give something to Tutsoku. But it seemed he couldn't really find anything.

"Please forgive me! I have nothing to offer you!"

"Don't worry about it. Your hospitality is all that I need. I must be off now."

Mika waved for a short time at Tutsoku. After Tutsoku was gone from his sight, Mika got down on his knees and began to pray. The gods have returned and he knew that prayers were their strength.

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Ariya and Waka landed before the Guardian Sapling. Ariya looked at Waka, waiting for him to make the wilted tree bloom. She saw him put his hands together in a prayer-like way. He was focusing his energy. He then pulled out his flute and began to play it. The tree slowly began to sprout buds of cherry blossoms. They opened up, giving power to the tree. Ariya could feel that power move through the land, cleansing it from the great evil that plagued it.

"Now that that's done, we should get going." she told Waka.

"You're right, moon goddess..."

"Can you please call me by my name? I know that I'm the goddess of the moon now, but that doesn't mean that you can call me that!"

"Why the sudden temper?"

"Sorry...It's just...I really want to find my family. They mean the world to me."

"So...You were the ruler of your world?" said Waka, going off topic.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I was. What of it?"

"What other powers do you have?"

"Read minds, see into the future, make barriers, see spirits of the other world...All my powers are basically spiritual or psychic."

"I see...Well, like you said, lets go."

Waka flew into the air, leaving Ariya alone for a few seconds. She flew into the air as well, following him.

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"Hey, sweetie!" yelled Issun.

Princess Fuse looked up and saw Amaterasu with the dragons of darkness and light. The Canine Warriors barked happily. They were obviously happy to see Amaterasu again.

"Why, it's my favorite white wolf and little bug!"

"Don't call me a bug!"

"I bet the reason you came is because of the windmill."

"That and because we're looking for the dragon of wind. You see, she's going to be the new goddess of wind!"

"You mean the gods have returned? It's been so long!"

"Yeah, we know." said Amaterasu.

"What!? You can talk!?"

"Oops..."

"I thought you weren't going to talk to people, furball!" yelled Issun.

"I'm sorry! It just slipped out!"

"What about the windmill?" interrupted Hakuzo.

"The monsters have broken the windmill and there's also a barrier around the entrance to the shrine." replied Princess Fuse.

"Let's go now." said Terasame.

They left the house of the priestess and ran to the entrance of the Gale Shrine. They went inside a small cave. Soon, they were standing before the barrier, which was at the door of where the Satomi Power Orbs have broken Crimson Helm's barrier. The barrier was one of pure darkness, which gave it an ominous look to it. Amaterasu stood there, thinking. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She looked at Terasame.

"Terasame, you're the dragon of darkness, right? Well, see if you can break the barrier."

"I don't think its a good idea to fight darkness with darkness...But I will try to find the source of the barrier."

Terasame walked through the barrier, unhindered. She walked through a short tunnel before reaching a small pond that was full of black and purple liquid. She looked to her right and saw a cave there. She walked through the cave which she thought was rather long. At the end, there was a peculiar gate. She went into it and a monster appeared. It was a pure black dragon with the kanji of evil and darkness all around its body. Terasame rolled her eyes at the sight of this creature. This was clearly no match for her. She fought against it, making the fight short. A corpse stood before her, black blood gushing out of it. The stench was horrible so Terasame left as quickly as she could.

"Well, that was a waste of time..." she thought.

She continued on, going back to the pond. She followed a path that soon led to a pit. There was nothing there except a pillar of broken wood. She knew that there was something there before, but that didn't concern her much. What did concern was the pedestal that was placed on the pillar. On the pedestal was a strange black crystal. She flapped her wings and steadily flew toward the pedestal. She hovered before the pedestal. Her claws were soon engulfed in black flames. She raised her claws up high and brought them down with great force that shattered the crystal like glass. It was then that she noticed that there was also a barrier that surrounded the pit. The barrier disappeared and she knew that the one at the entrance did too. She flew back and stood there, waiting to rejoin Amaterasu and Hakuzo. They soon appeared in less than 3 minutes.

"So what was the source of the barrier?" asked Issun.

"It was a strange black crystal." replied Terasame.

"A crystal, huh?"

"There's something in here..." said Amaterasu.

Everyone looked at her.

"You're right. There's something here that didn't want us to come in. I wonder what?" said Hakuzo.

"There's only one way to find out. But we need to repair the windmill first." said Amaterasu.

Amaterasu then noticed the huge pit before her. Her ears slightly dropped but they soon perked up again.

"A little help here." she said looking at Hakuzo.

He took to the air and Amaterasu jumped on his back. He flew to the left where there was an elevator to get to the windmill. Terasame followed close behind. When Hakuzo landed, Amaterasu jumped off his back and went inside the tower. Hakuzo and Terasame followed and noticed a white bomb in the inside. The bomb was 'eaten' by a strange contraption in the middle of the room. The floor flew up one story and stopped. Another bomb appeared and the same thing happened again. They made it to the top floor where everything was dark. The three ran up some stairs before they finally reached the platform before the great windmill. It was definitely broken.

"Whoa, those monsters really messed it up. Maybe a little Rejuvenation will help?" said Issun.

Amaterasu began to work on one side while Hakuzo worked on the other. Then the windmill was fully repaired. Amaterasu then used her improved Galestorm technique. The divine wind blew powerfully at the windmill. The windmill slowly began to turn until it was moving rather fast. Suddenly, a small whirlwind appeared before Amaterasu. Inside the whirlwind was Akira, the dragon of wind.

"Mother? Father? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We were looking for you!" replied Hakuzo very happily.

"I'm so happy to see that you're okay!" said Terasame.

"I was lucky though because there's a monster inside this shrine."

"A monster? I knew that there was something in here!" said Amaterasu.

"Well, knowing you, I know that you want to get rid of that monster...Shall we get going?"

Amaterasu and the others all nodded. They left the platform before the windmill and went down a couple of flights of stairs. Amaterasu was very eager to rid this monster of her world. Amazingly, she soon found herself before a door that had the mark of Kazegami. They went inside and saw a fire blazing from strange dragon-like stones. Akira blew away the fire with her powerful wings which gave the others time to get passed it. At the end of the hall was another door. Amaterasu was ready for whatever lies inside.

* * *

Sorry but I have to end it there! I'm planning on making a fic of songs for Okami. But in the mean time, review! 


	9. Evil Within the Shrine

The Elements Return

Amaterasu, Hakuzo, Terasame, and Akira stepped through the door. Inside, they could see eight red pillars with torches that had stone horse heads. They walked into the middle of the room where they were surrounded by the pillars. Suddenly, one torch lit up with fire and soon the next did. It continued until all the torches were lit. The flames in each torch floated down to the floor and formed a row of fire. The fire soon blazed violently which made everyone step back a couple of steps. They looked back at the fire and saw that it was now gone. Instead was a cobra. It had long fangs and the end of its tail blazed with fire. It was black but it had blood red flames on its body (not real flames, of course). It hissed which sounded very monstrous.

"That's the monster!?" said Issun.

"Don't worry, Issun. I've taken out things bigger than this, remember? It'll be like the old days." said Amaterasu.

"All right but be careful!"

Amaterasu faced this adversary with no fear. But as much as she wants to go in and attack, she'll have to think up a plan. This monster looked dangerous (and it is!) so it would be best to see what he can do. "Then again...I would have to wait and I want to get rid of this thing quickly." she thought. The cobra hissed again which made fire spew out of its fangs. Akira blew away this fire with her wings. Hakuzo suddenly dashed toward the monster and sunk his claws and teeth into its body. It hissed in pain and tried to strike Hakuzo in the only way snakes can attack. Luckily, he made it out of the way in time. Since the cobra's head was low enough to attack, Terasame was able to pin him down to the floor long enough for Amaterasu to lay quick blows to him.

The monster then reared up its head, out of Amaterasu's reach. Akira then flew to its head and clawed at the cobra's eyes. It would try to attack her but Akira was faster in the air than on ground. Terasame wanted to draw the snake's attention away from Akira by biting it at the tail. The snake turned, slightly overwhelmed by the attacks. It reared its head and struck out with full force and speed at Terasame. Unlike Hakuzo, she wasn't able to get out of the way in time. She was knocked down a couple of yards away and she was struggling to get up. Hakuzo then pinned the snake's head down with his own weight (Hakuzo's). Amaterasu changed her weapon to the Thunder Strike and attacked valiantly. She jumped into the air and dealt the final blow by stabbing the cobra in the head with her glaive. She missed though and ended up putting the Thunder Strike in the snake's snout.

The cobra could no longer open his mouth. It began to use it's tail to attack. Akira was fast enough to successfully evade these attacks. She bit its tail a the tip but away from the fire at the end, that is. The fire blazed suddenly, slightly burning Akira. The cobra began to spin its tail, making a wheel of fire. The fire acted like it really was a wheel and it began to spin around the room. Amaterasu used her Deluge power to get rid of it. That's when she noticed that the cobra winced at the rain pouring on the fire at the end of its tail. She looked for Hakuzo. He was with Terasame, helping her. Amaterasu could see that she had a serious-looking wound and it was bleeding, but not a lot. She turned her attention to the snake, who still had the Thunder Strike keeping its mouth shut.

Akira flew next to the head and slammed it down to the floor with her strong legs. Amaterasu used a longer shower of Deluge and Galestorm. The fire at the end of the tail went out. Amaterasu could see that the cobra was trying to roar in defeat (and in pain) but the glaive kept it from doing so. Then the cobra's body turned to pure fire. The Thunder Strike fell to the floor and Amaterasu ran to pick it up. The fire began to spin around in the air, forming a figure. It was Naoko, the dragon of fire. His tail ended in the flame like the cobra and his wings were blazing with fire as well. Like the other dragons except Ariya, he had spikes run down his back. But these spikes were made of fire which LOOKED like spikes. So, technically, they weren't really spikes, just fire.

"I am so glad that I wasn't reborn in that icy place!" he said.

"You mean Kamui?" asked Amaterasu.

"That's the one!" he said rather jokingly.

The fun-like expression on his face faded when he saw his mother. He quickly ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Don't worry. It's not all that serious. It will heal in no time." she replied.

Amaterasu could still see some worry in Hakuzo's, Naoko's, and Akira's eyes. Everyone left the room and made their way back to the entrance of the Gale Shrine. Terasame needed some help from Hakuzo to get by some obstacles. In less than ten minutes, they were already walking down the path to Princess Fuse's house. They went inside to tell the priestess of the monster in the shrine. There was a look of worry when she caught sight of Terasame.

"What happened to you!?"

"It's just a mere flesh wound." replied Terasame.

"Come here so I can bandage it for you."

Princess Fuse began to wrap up the wound while Issun told her of the cobra.

"That monster was the reason that there was a barrier? Was it the reason that the windmill was broken?"

"Well, I'm not too sure that that monster was the one that broke the windmill...But, don't worry, the windmill's all fixed thanks to Ammy and Hakuzo!" said Issun.

"Thank you very much for repairing the windmill and ridding the Gale Shrine of that monster."

"You're welcome." replied both Amaterasu and Hakuzo.

"Ah, and thank you too." said Princess Fuse to Terasame and Akira.

"I think it's about to time to hit the road again!" said Issun.

"Leaving already?"

"Don't worry. Akira will keep you company and I'm sure the Canine Warriors will like a new playmate!"

"Despite the short time that I've been with you, it's great to see you again, Amaterasu as well as my parents. I will protect Taka Pass from the monsters that lurk about."

"And I'm sure you'll do a great job." said both Terasame and Hakuzo.

Everyone said their goodbyes to Princess Fuse as Akira walked them out. She walked with them until they reached the entrance of the village. Akira said goodbye to Amaterasu and her family, and walked back to the priestess' house. Amaterasu didn't expect to find Naoko here, but now she has found the god of fire. They walked down a long path before reaching Taka Pass.

"Alright, furball! There's only one last place to check in Nippon. And you know where that is!"

"Ryoshima Coast...I bet that we'll find Mayumi there!" replied Amaterasu.

"Ryoshima Coast?" said Naoko uneasily.

"What's the matter with you? You're not afraid of water, are ya?" taunted Issun.

"No! Its just-um..."

"Let's just say that he isn't very fond of water. Pretty obvious since water can extinguish fire." said Hakuzo.

"Are you going to be okay? I mean, you know, around the sea?" asked Amaterasu.

"I will as long as I don't get wet." replied Naoko.

Amaterasu gave a short nod and they moved on through Taka Pass. In ten minutes or so, they had reached the City Checkpoint. The great drawbridge was down like it should be. The sky was turning into a light pink-orange color. After all the time that has passed, it was barely sunset. The day was unbelievably long, and what's worse was how long the night will probably be. It was far too dangerous to travel by night, during these times that is. For now, Amaterasu would have to find some shelter but where? She thought of one place but she was sure that Naoko wasn't going to like it.

"Hey, I know of one place that we can sleep at for the night." she said.

"Where would that be?" asked Terasame.

"There's a cave next to the riverbank but it's behind a waterfall..."

"Don't worry, I know a way that can keep Naoko from getting wet." said Hakuzo.

The three dragons followed Amaterasu down to the riverbank below. They soon came across the waterfall and they could see the cave behind it. Hakuzo went through the waterfall and extended his feathered wing. His wing blocked off the flow of the waterfall which would let Naoko pass through and not get wet. Naoko went in first, then Amaterasu, and finally Terasame. Hakuzo's wing was drenched but he noticed that there was a few candles inside. This was probably a place that some people went to to meditate. Everyone was already laying down when he got to them. He layed next to Terasame, who was happy to be with him once again. He could see that Amaterasu had already fallen asleep. Naoko was still awake but a bit drowsy. Amaterasu was sleeping next to the fire dragon's tail, probably because the heat was cozy. Issun was asleep too, nestled in the wolf's soft white fur.

He looked to his side and saw that Terasame had fallen asleep as well. He let out a yawn, making sure that it wasn't loud. Then he, too, went asleep. Terasame wasn't actually asleep, she was thinking with her eyes closed (kind of weird). She was wondering where Ariya was. Terasame is very thankful for her and the fact that she took her(Ariya) in and raise her as her own. Ariya was the reason that she met Hakuzo and fall in love with him. Of course, she played hard to get with him and I mean REALLY hard. At first, she felt nothing but pity to Ariya. Then she slowly grew attached to her and soon loved her as her own daughter. These thoughts slowly faded as she fell asleep.

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"We finally made it to Shinshu Field!" said Ariya, exhaustedly.

"I can travel all night, ma cherie."

"Of course you can since your 'wings' don't have actual muscle." she said. "My wings do have muscles and bones so I get tired over a long flight like that. I didn't think we'd get here by sundown."

"Would you like to rest for the night?"

"You DO know that the answer is very obvious, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Kamiki Village is across the field so we could rest over there."

"Oh, good."

"Ariya!?" said a voice.

Ariya looked to her left and saw Tutsoku with a surprised look on his face.

"Tutsoku? Is that really you!?" she said.

"I was wondering where you were! And I'm glad to see that you're unharmed!"

"What are you doing here, though?"

"Amaterasu made me the new god of earth...and explosions."

"Do you know where she is?" asked Waka, eagerly.

"Taka Pass to find Akira. Seeing how it's sundown, she should be somewhere around that area." replied Tutsoku.

"I knew it." said Waka.

"You guys must be tired so why not spend the night at the village? You ARE going to need a lot of energy to keep up with that swift goddess."

Ariya chuckled at that and she, along with Waka, followed Tutsoku. By the time they got to the village, the pink-orange color of the sky was gone and was replaced by the darkness of the night. However, there weren't any stars in the sky. It was nothing but black and the light of the moon. The moon's light shone beautifully in the village.

"If you don't want anyone to bother you, then you can go up there." said Tutsoku, pointing to the cliff at the top of the waterfall.

"Where are you going to sleep at?" asked Ariya.

"I'm just going to go around the village to see if everything is okay. I'll go up there to join you guys later."

Ariya and Waka flew to the top of the cliff. There was a big pond which was obviously the source of the water in the area. Ariya looked down and could see pretty much everything in the whole village. She could see Sakuya's tree in the distance. A breeze began to blow, carrying flower petals with it. It was beautiful to see them move through the moonlight. The air felt very calm and pure. It was a perfect time to easily get a vision, for Waka that is.

"Why didn't you kill Ayako when you had the chance?" he asked Ariya. He noticed that that question interrupted her thoughts, thoughts that she was thinking about deeply.

"Killing another of my kind is like...How can I put it? It's like, for you, killing another human."

"Well, I'm not exactly human, but I know what you mean."

"Moon tribe."

"What? How'd you know about that?"

"I was bored during the flight here so I've been reading your mind most of the way."

"Ugh, you really need to stop that."

"I just can't help it..."

Ariya turned her attention to Tutsoku, who was returning. He didn't have wings but he used the vine power to reach the top. Ariya and Tutsoku made themselves comfortable and fell fast asleep. Waka stood awake for awhile longer, thinking. "The night always brings out the deepest of thoughts." he thought. He began to think why chaos existed. The other element dragons existed for a reason, so what was the reason why Ayako exists? He didn't want to think too much about that abhorrent dragon. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	10. Water of the Sea

The Elements Return

Ariya woke up from the cold. She saw that the sun had not yet risen which explains why it's cold. The sun was close to rise, making the sky a yellow-pink color. She looked at where the sun would soon rise with her light blue eyes. Without moving her head, she looked to her left and saw Waka sound asleep. He had his arms crossed and he was sleeping in a laid-back sitting way. To her right was Tutsoku, who breathed deeply while asleep. She looked back at the sun or where the sun would soon be. She began to think of Ayako which surprised her since she did her best to not think of him. She knew exactly why he existed. Chaos brings order and order is what brings the world- all worlds in place. "So by ultimately killing him..." she thought. "Do we destroy all of existence as well?" She shook her head of these thoughts, trying to make them go away.

The sun was, at last, rising above the horizon. The sun's rays lit up the sky even more. Ariya could hear Tutsoku waking from his deep sleep. She looked at him but his eyes were still closed. He let out a yawn which sounded more like a roar. The yawn woke up Waka. Tutsoku then began to stretch like almost every animal does when they wake up. He began to walk with his eyes half open. But he didn't realize that he was about to walk off the cliff. He soon fell down which made both Waka and Ariya completely wake up. The ran to the edge and looked down. They saw the brown dragon in the water of the small lake. A lily pad appeared beneath him, and more and more appeared like stepping stones.

"Are you alright!?" cried Waka.

"Th-The w-water is very c-c-cold!" he shouted back.

Tutsoku shook off the water but was still shivering by it. Ariya and Waka flew down to the edge of the lake. Tutsoku jumped on the lily pads all the way to the edge.

"Nothing like a cold bath to wake you up." said Ariya. She looked at the sun for a brief moment and looked back at Tutsoku. "Besides, the sun has fully risen so you can get warm by it...And dry off too."

"Do you guys want something to eat?" asked Tutsoku.

"I think we've wasted quite a bit of time already. Amaterasu may have already moved on. We need to find her soon." said Waka.

"Ah, I see. Well, then, good luck on catching her."

Tutsoku saw Ariya and Waka fly off and they were soon gone from his sight. He looked at the village and could see Kushi already picking the rice to make more sake. "I wonder what sake tastes like?" he thought.

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Amaterasu yawned in a dog-like way. She saw the other three dragons yawn too (it's contagious!). But their yawns sounded a lot like roars which made Issun jump (in a scared way).

"Geez! Can't you guys yawn more quietly? I was having a great dream about girls!"

The three dragons just ignored him and they noticed that Amaterasu rolled her eyes when Issun mentioned girls. All four stretched except for Issun since he's not going to do any running or walking. This time, Terasame extended her wing to keep the waterfall from splashing on her son. Amaterasu was first to leave, then Naoko, and finally Hakuzo. Terasame shook off the water from her wing and it quickly dried since she had no feathers. Only Hakuzo had feathered wings which surprised Terasame for she thought that one of her children would have them. They went up to the bridge, with an occasional stumble since not everyone was completely awake.

But that sleepiness quickly disappeared when they saw the state of Ryoshima Coast. The water was very murky and looked almost black. Amaterasu looked to where the Guardian Sapling was which was on a nearby cliff. She quickly dashed away, leaving the dragons in the dust. They ran after her, doing their best to keep up. They were in a cave that soon led to the outside. At the top was a withered sapling, but it had shrunk to a small size. Amaterasu used Deluge to revive the small tree but no rain came. She was confused at what was going on. Why couldn't she summon the rain now? She did before but why did suddenly not work? Her eyes soon caught sight of a stone that layed next to the small tree. She walked on over to it and saw that there was writing on it. "Find the spring of divinity and revive the dragon of the deep. The only way to revive the dragon is through Her tears."

"What do they mean by 'Her'?" asked Issun.

"I'm not so sure but it will make sense in due time." she replied.

"What I want to know is how this stone got here. It's like someone knew we would come here." said Naoko.

"You're right but who could it be?" asked Terasame.

"I don't think we should waste our time wondering about it. Right now, we need to bring back Mayumi so we can restore the sea." said Hakuzo.

"Maybe we should split up so we can cover more ground." said Amaterasu.

Everyone agreed to that and they split up in different directions. Hakuzo and Terasame will search the sky, Naoko the land, which leaves the water areas to Amaterasu...Or what's left of the water. She remembered that small lake nearby and headed for that area. She was at the edge and looked down to see what was left of the lake. It was all dried up and the small island in the middle was still there. It had a pillar that took up most of the space on the island. However, the cat statue that once stood next to that pillar was gone now. Amaterasu felt sorrow upon seeing that it was gone. She did her best to keep the sadness within her away and focus on finding the divine spring.

She jumped down and began to look around. Issun even jumped off her head and began looking too. Amaterasu sniffed the floor which was faint of the smell of water. The floor was cracked which showed how depleted of moisture it really was. She looked for Issun who happened to be at the far corner of the lake. How he got there so fast surprised her. She ran to him and he jumped back on her head.

"It's about time you came! I was tired of looking around!"

Amaterasu growled but she soon stopped. She suddenly caught the scent of fresh water. She sniffed around to find where it was coming from. The scent led her to a wall nearby. She sniffed it so she could be sure.

"Stop smelling the wall, furball! You're kind of creeping me out!"

"Can't you smell it? There's water behind this wall!"

Before Issun could answer back, a white cherry bomb appeared before the wall. It blew up with incredible force and power, and the wall had vanished, revealing a path within. Amaterasu followed the short path to a spring. The spring looked like the other divine springs Amaterasu came across on almost a year ago. Except that the stones behind the spring had a strange metal engraved in them. It was aquamarine which really fitted the water dragon. Amaterasu ran up to the spring only to see that it had completely dried up as well. She felt nothing but disappointment. "Her tears..." How that popped into her head was strange. She thought intently about it. What did that mean exactly? She thought and thought but nothing made sense. She soon let out a wolf-like gasp.

"What!? What's wrong!?" asked Issun.

"My tears..." she replied.

"Huh?"

"When the stone was talking about 'Her tears' they were talking about me! This spring needs my tears!"

"Well, how are you going to do that? I mean, can wolves cry?"

"I don't know but we'll see...But how are we going to make me cry?"

"The only sad thing I can think about is the gods..."

As soon as he said 'gods', Amaterasu's heart was full of sorrow. It felt like someone shot an arrow right into it. The more she thought about it, the worse it hurt. Eventually, she felt something wet trickle out of her eyes. Two drops fell into the spring and the spring was slowly being filled with pure water. The spring began to swirl a bit and Mayumi was in the water. Mayumi's face looked worried to see Amaterasu's face full of tears.

"Is everything okay, Amaterasu?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm alright." replied Amaterasu.

"Hey, Mayumi! Thanks for leaving that stone with that writing on it! Otherwise, we would have never brought you back!"

"What are you talking about? I didn't leave that!"

"Really? I thought you did!"

"No, I didn't. But whoever left it helped me."

"Come on, Mayumi. We need you to clean the seas of evil."

Amaterasu walked out, her tears gone already. Issun had to admit that that moment made Amaterasu look very human-like. They were outside again and Amaterasu could see Hakuzo in the sky. Amaterasu barked, getting Hakuzo's attention. He flew down and there was happiness in his eyes. Amaterasu jumped on his back and she could see Terasame flying close by too. Terasame saw them and reunited with her daughter. Mayumi got on Terasame's back and they flew to where the Guardian Sapling was. Amaterasu and Mayumi jumped off and looked at the withered tree. Amaterasu used Deluge again and this time, it worked. The sapling was nourished with water and grew ten times its height. It was the same size as the other saplings.

Amaterasu bloomed the tree. It burst into flowers and its power drove away the cursed zone on the land. Mayumi's power allowed the sapling to cleanse the sea of the curse. The curse was completely gone except that the sea looked a little murky. Amaterasu looked at Mayumi who had a look of uneasiness on her face. There had to be an explanation why the sea wasn't completely cleansed.

"Hey, Ammy! I think we should go to the Dragon Palace. I bet you anything that Otohime will know something!"

That was exactly what they will do.

* * *

I won't be able to update for awhile because of Christmas and all. So sorry about that! But have a merry Christmas anyway! 


	11. The Dragon Palace

The Elements Return

Amaterasu led the dragons away from the Guardian Sapling. They went through the cave and saw Naoko waiting for them at the end.

"Good to have you back, Mayumi..."

"You look a little uneasy...Afraid that I'll spray you with water?"

"Of course not!"

"You two stop fighting!" interrupted Hakuzo.

"We're not fighting!" said Naoko.

"Come on you guys! We don't need to be wasting our time on this!" said Issun.

They quieted down and followed Amaterasu to the beach. Mayumi was having a hard time keeping up because of her webbed claws. The sea breeze blew gently, filling the air with the smell of salt. Amaterasu liked the smell and it seemed to clear up her thoughts a bit. She saw Mayumi walking along the edge of the water.

"Amaterasu, where exactly is the Dragon Palace?" asked Terasame.

"It's at the bottom of the sea in North Ryoshima Coast." she replied.

"Are you serious!?" interrupted Naoko. "There is no way that I'll go there!"

"If you don't want to go, then you can stay a Sie-an City. Don't worry, the people won't freak out when they see you." said Amaterasu.

"Alright then..."

"Amaterasu, would you mind if I meet you in N. Ryoshima Coast? You see, I really want to swim through this water." asked Mayumi.

"Go ahead! We'll meet you there!" replied Amaterasu.

Mayumi jumped into the water and swam away. She swam pretty quick which made Amaterasu envy her. They continued on until they came to the entrance of Sei-an City. Once there, Naoko split away from the group but not before saying his goodbyes to his mother and father. "See you later, fire god!" yelled Amaterasu as he left. He went down the path and entered the city. He walked through the streets while drawing a lot of attention from everyone. He noticed that there were a lot of cherry trees in this part of the city. He kept walking and came across a couple of guards that didn't seem very interested in him. They didn't say a word to him so he walked passed them. He was now on a bridge above a lake. "Great! More water..." he thought. He picked up his pace so he could cross the bridge faster. At the end, he saw some people praying before a small building.

"Excuse me, but why are you praying?"

The people, well, actually, there were only four people, not counting the two guards. They looked at him strangely for a couple of seconds until a woman broke the silence.

"We are praying for Rao and Queen Himiko."

"Rao and Himiko? Who are they?"

"She was a priestess who helped the people of this city. She was killed by a demon that, later, impersonated her. Himiko was the queen of this city. She was a great leader until that demon killed her too..."

"I'm sorry that your city had to suffer such tragedy. But you shouldn't mourn them forever...You need to move on. I'm sure you queen would have wanted you to do so."

"You're right but another reason that we mourn is that we won't forget them."

"I don't think that you will."

With that Naoko walked away from them and entered the building. There were scrolls on every shelf of the building. He walked through the door and saw big houses and two palaces. He knew that the biggest was Queen Himiko's. He wanted to go see and explore around there. There were two guards standing at the front of the entrance. "There sure is alot of guards here..." thought Naoko. They, too, didn't bother him as he walked through. He walked a couple of stairs and saw the door to the palace. However, he caught the scent of something else. It was a sweet fragrance like a fruit. He followed it to the back of the palace and saw a woman praying before stones. The stones were very big so Naoko thought that that was Himiko's grave.

"Is this the grave of Himiko?" he asked

The woman slowly got up. She was wearing a light blue kimino with a purple veil over her face. When she turned around, there was a look of shock on her face. The veil was transparent enough to see it.

"You seem to be surprised to see a dragon." he said.

"Well, its not often for someone to see a dragon. May I ask why are you here?"

"I just wanted to see the palace and because I don't want to be around the sea."

"Are you a god?"

"Yes. I'm the god of fire. Isn't it obvious?"

"Sorry about that. I don't want to keep you from seeing the palace so you may go if you want to."

"Thank you."

Naoko left the woman and entered the palace. He saw a small room in the center. He went inside and felt it move. It was the elevator and it continued to move. It eventually stopped at a floor that had lava for a floor. Naoko rushed out and stood at the edge. He was very excited to see something rare as this. He jumped into the sea of fire and swam around, the fire on his back blazing wildly. He swam across and shook off the lava from his scales. The fire on his back began to calm down as he walked through the sliding doors. When he got to the end, he was amazed at how big the room was. There was a huge mirror with what looked like a tree made of fire on it on the wall. He walked down to the end and stood where Himiko once ruled Sei-an.

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Ariya and Waka flew over Agata Forest. They haven't really talked to each other since they left Kamiki. The quietness between them made Waka a little nervous. It was probably because he thought that Ariya had read his mind again. But she didn't, even though she really wanted to. Of course, he had told her to not do that which was another reason why she didn't. They continued to fly and were already flying over Taka Pass. But something caught their eye in the valley below. It was a whirlwind that was moving very fast. They flew down, Ariya already had a guess of what it was.

"Hey, Akira!" she yelled.

The whirlwind stopped, revealing Akira in the inside.

"Ariya? Is it really you?"

"No, I'm just a hallucination." she replied sarcastically.

"That's not really funny..."

"Sorry that you don't have a sense of humor anymore."

"It's not that. I'm just worked up from fighting with monsters."

"Well, in any case, have you seen Amaterasu?"

"Isn't it obvious?" added Waka.

"Yeah, she headed toward Ryoshima Coast. If you go now, you might be able to catch her."

Waka flew off immediately after Akira said that. Ariya flew off after him after she said her goodbye to her sister. They are so close to finding Amaterasu.

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Amaterasu was amazed that N. Ryoshima Coast was free of the curse. Or maybe it was Mayumi that pulled off a Great Divine Intervention. Possibly or some one else did it...She snapped out of her thoughts and observed the scenery, searching for Mayumi.

"I wonder where she could be?"

"She probably waiting for us at the beach." replied Issun.

The group headed toward the beach and they saw Mayumi. She was swimming pretty fast as if she was trying to get away from something. She made it to the shore in ten seconds from where they had first caught sight of her. She panted heavily from the effort of swimming so fast.

"Why were you swimming like that?" asked Hakuzo.

"I don't like how the water feels around here..." she replied.

"Your the water dragon! What do you mean that the water doesn't feel right!?" asked Issun.

"I'm not so sure but it felt like something was waiting. It was a creepy feeling."

"Well we won't know what exactly is going on until we get to the Dragon Palace." added Issun.

Amaterasu headed toward the dock that was nearby. The dragons followed close behind, wondering what she was doing.

"Why are we here?" asked Terasame.

"Last time, a small whale took us to the Dragon Palace. I'm going to see if I can call him."

The sun shone brightly for a couple of seconds but nothing happened after that. The dragons looked at Amaterasu who had a face that said that something wasn't right.

"This isn't good...He's not coming and I don't think that whirlpool is open."

"Whirlpool?" asked Mayumi.

"Yes, the entrance to the Dragon Palace is a big whirlpool." replied Amaterasu.

"If it's a whirlpool that you want, I can easily make one for you!"

"Are you serious!? You know how to make whirlpools?"

"Duh! I AM the dragon of water! Now lets go!"

Amaterasu jumped off the dock and landed right on top of the water. Hakuzo and Terasame were really surprised at this since they can't do it. Mayumi jumped into the water, despite that she too can walk on water. "Lead the way!" she said to Amaterasu. The white wolf nodded her head and soon took off while Mayumi swam under the surface. Her mother and father followed them as they flew through the sky. Amaterasu stopped at a certain spot that was off the tip of Watcher's Cape.

"Is this where it was?" asked Mayumi.

"Yes. I'm positive that this was the exact location."

"Okay, I'll make that whirlpool! You might want to stand back..."

Amaterasu obediantly walked back a couple of yards. She couldn't see exactly what Mayumi was doing since the water was still a little murky even though the area was clean of the curse. A small whirlpool opened up in the surface. It soon began to grow steadily until it was massive. Amaterasu quickly went through the whirlpool while the other dragons followed her to the Dragon Palace. They soon found themselves before a small palace. Terasame began to wonder how they were able to breathe but she didn't want to think too much of it. But she did feel a strange power emanating from the palace. It was making her feel uneasy. She looked to Hakuzo and she could tell that he felt it too. She wondered if Amaterasu was able to sense it. Amaterasu walked up to the door and barked. No one came out to greet the goddess which worried Amaterasu. She began scratching at the door but, still, no one came.

"This is really not good!" said Issun.

"You think!?" said Mayumi.

"I'll try to open the door." said Hakuzo.

Hakuzo backed up a couple of feet and charged at the door. He hit the door with his head with full force and the door fell down to the floor.

"How exactly will we explain this to Otohime?" asked Issun.

"We're not going to explain this to her." said Amaterasu.

Issun grumbled but Amaterasu merely ignored him. They went inside and found some of the guards kneeling down. That is, it looked like they were kneeling. Amaterasu went up to one of them and barked. She didn't respond in any way. Amaterasu licked her cheek but there was no response. The guard's eyes were open but there was some kind of emptiness in them.

"I think they are in some kind of trance." said Terasame, breaking the silence.

"Ammy, we need to find Otohime, quick!" said Issun.

Amaterasu and the others went to the elevator which seemed to take forever to get to the next floor. When they got to the second floor, they found Otohime in a bent over position on her throne. Her guards were in the same kneeling position as the others. Amaterasu ran up to the queen of the Dragonians. She could see that Otohime was still conscious but barely hanging on to it.

"What in the world happened?" asked Issun.

"The beast...You...must find...it...and get rid...of it."

"What beast are you talking about? Is it causing this strange spell on the palace?"

"It's...the monster...of the deep...Please hurry."

"C'mon Ammy! We have to find that monster!"

Amaterasu nodded and she, and the dragons, ran out of the palace. They were off to search for the beast.

* * *

I'm so sorry that this took so long! Please forgive me! I'll do my best to make sure the next chapter won't take so long. If you have any Q's about this story or the last you can let me know on my forum. Look on the Okami section, of course, and go to Number One Fans. 


	12. The Monster of the Deep

The Elements Return

As soon as they had gone through the door of the palace, Terasame suddenly stopped. Everyone else went on a couple more feet until they realized that she was no longer following.

"Is something wrong?" asked Amaterasu worriedly.

"Shhhh." she answered. Everyone was completely quiet, trying to listen for whatever was stalling Terasame. Amaterasu did hear something but she wasn't quite sure of what it was. Terasame suddenly turned around and ran inside the palace. Hakuzo immediately followed her, wondering what has come over his mate. She was running pretty fast through the halls of the Dragon Palace. Hakuzo quickly looked back to see if Amaterasu and Mayumi were following. Amaterasu was close at his heels and was just as confused as him. Mayumi was having a harder time trying to keep up and was already being left behind. Amaterasu and Hakuzo both saw Terasame turn a corner, and shortly after that, they heard a crash. They turned the corner and saw one of the doors smashed through. Undoubtedly, Terasame had done this.

Inside, Terasame stood there. The room was a decent size and there were baby toys here and there. Terasame was looking at something that made Hakuzo curious. She was in the way of whatever she was staring at. Hakuzo walked over to her and saw what had made her run in such a hurry. A baby. There was a baby in a crib, crying. Terasame stared intently at the baby Dragonian. Amaterasu was, at first, lost but then she recalled what Otohime had told her after she had defeated Ninetails quite some time ago. Now that she thought about it, she has never really seen the baby in her last adventure. She knew now that they couldn't leave the baby by itself when there's a monster lurking in the sea. But they couldn't take it with them either or they will be putting its life at risk. Terasame turned and looked at both Hakuzo and Amaterasu. As if she had sensed the thoughts going through Amaterasu's mind, she said:

"I'll stay here."

"What? Are you sure?" asked Hakuzo.

"There's no other way. I HIGHLY doubt that I will be affected by the spell around the palace. If I stay with the baby, it won't go under that trance."

"Okay. We'll leave you with the baby. Protect it with your life." said Amaterasu.

"I will." Terasame watched Amaterasu leave the room and she heard a growl that came from, most likely, Mayumi. She was probably angry at the fact that she had just arrived and they are already leaving. Terasame turned to Hakuzo who was looking at the floor. She could see that he was troubled (or sad. whichever works) that he would be seperated from his love.

"Don't look so sad. It's only for the time being."

"I know but are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Don't worry about that. Just go and find that monster and get rid of it. The sooner, the better."

"And the sooner that we'll be together again. I'll come back for you after this is all taken care of."

He nuzzled his mate and soon left though the door. Terasame was by herself, except for the baby. She noticed that it had stopped crying as if it knew it was safe or in good hands. She turned to look at it. The baby looked up at her with the most innocent look she had ever seen. It reminded her of Ariya and that day she found her out in the rain. That look was identical, in some strange way, to Ariya's look. Terasame then wondered where her daughter could be. She hoped that she was safe from harm. She looked up and, on a shelf, was a strange-looking orb. It was the Dragon Orb. That it explained why the baby was the only one unaffected by the spell. Then, a strange feeling came over her. She had a sudden impulse to pick up the baby. But she looked down at her claws and knew that she couldn't.

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Amaterasu, Hakuzo, and Mayumi were now at the surface of the blue sea. Behind them was the whirlpool that was now closing up by Mayumi's power. When they got outside the Dragon Palace, Amaterasu instructed her to close it up so that nothing harmful could enter the palace. Hakuzo was very silent throughout the entire time. But Issun found a way to get him to talk.

"Hey, Hakuzo. Why did Terasame want to stay?" asked Issun.

"Didn't you hear her earlier?" he replied.

"I did hear her! It's just that...why not someone else?"

"What are you trying to say?" Hakuzo's tone was very intimidating that it even made Amaterasu shiver.

"I didn't mean it that way! What I mean is that, when she volunteered, it was as if taking care of a baby was something natural to her. You understand what I'm trying to say?"

"For as long as I've known her, Terasame has always had maternal instincts. And I've known her way before I fell in love with her!"

"We should stop wasting our time now. We need to find that monster!" interuppted Amaterasu.

"And how do you propose we find it? The ocean is huge and, not to mention, it is deep." said Mayumi.

"Well, we are going to have to split up. That way, we can cover more ground-er-water. Whatever!" said Amaterasu.

Amaterasu then instructed them to search at certain areas. Mayumi will search in the eastern part, Hakuzo in the west, and Amaterasu will search outsea. Everyone split up, heading toward their areas. Amaterasu ran on the water's surface until she came to an island that she had forgotten existed. It was the island where she first fought Mayumi. It was a plain one. No trees, grass, or any of that matter. Amaterasu looked up toward the sun which was high in the sky. It was a long time til nightfall so the island won't be able to be engulfed by the sea. Amaterasu traveled on further out sea, leaving the island behind her. She stopped a short while later. Something had caught her eye. Out in the horizon, something jumped out of the water. It splashed in the water almost like a whale but it wasn't.

"Ammy! Did you see that!?"

"I sure did."

She felt her stomach turn. Whatever it was, it was making her feel uneasy. And because of that feeling, she was sure that she found the monster. She looked up toward the sky and let out a howl. In a few minutes, both Mayumi and Hakuzo reunited with Amaterasu.

"I found it."

"Really!? Where!?" asked Mayumi eagerly.

Amaterasu pointed with her paw and they all observed the sea. Sure enough, the monster jumped out of the water again but it was closer this time. "I guess it found us too." thought Amaterasu. Then she saw something pierce the surface. It looked like a sail of a boat (the triangle-shaped sails) but it looked demonic. The sail got closer and Amaterasu then knew how big the monster was. The sail disappeared below the surface. Everyone looked around for the monster.

"Get away from here!" yelled Mayumi. She swam as quickly as she could away from the spot where they were all at. Amaterasu ran while Hakuzo flew (he was already flying). Then a huge splash could be heard as the monster jumped out of the water. It was a lot bigger than Amaterasu expected. It was a blue-green color with the sail on its back. It had a long neck with a shark-like fin on its head. Its tail looked like an eel's and it had plesiosaur-like flippers. It came down with a huge splash that made waves on the surface. It disappeared into the depths before coming back up. Its head and neck came out of the water and roared at Amaterasu. It then dived back into the water, circling her. Amaterasu felt a little more at ease since she had the ability to walk on water. But she wondered how Mayumi will be able to fight. The monster jumped out of the water again. This time it was trying to fall on the sun goddess, to crush her underneath its massive weight.

Hakuzo managed to grab on to its head while it was jumping. This caused it to barely miss Amaterasu, but either way, it made a huge wave that knocked the goddess off her feet. Hakuzo was still hanging on to the creature's head which made it frustrated. Its head came out of the water again and it started to shake it violently. Hakuzo only sunk his claws deeper into the monster's flesh. Of course, for being a massive creature, the claws probably felt like mosquito bites but it still was annoying. Hakuzo finally let go but not before he slashed at the monster's eye. Then a whirlpool began to appear around the monster. It was now trapped in the strong current of the whirlpool. Mayumi poked her head out of the water and looked at Amaterasu. "This is your chance to look for its weak spot! I'll help you get close to it!" A wave appeared under Amaterasu, sending her to the monster. The wave grew larger the closer it got to the monster. When she knew that she was close enough, she jumped with all her might and landed on its head. There was blood spilling out of its right eye but Amaterasu didn't pay too much attention to that. She ran down the length of the neck, careful not to fall into the raging whirlpool below.

It was there that, at the base of the neck and right next to the sail, was a strange black jewel that glowed ominously. Amaterasu immediately knew that this was its weak spot. Her weapon changed into the Thunder Strike and she began to repeatedly stab at it, shards of the jewel flying in different directions. After four hits, the whirlpool began to slow down. Mayumi couldn't let it keep going since it took a great deal of her power. She was panting a little from the effort to make it strong enough to contain the monster in it. Amaterasu jumped off and landed safely on the water. The monster then dived down and its tail appeared over the surface as it did so. Its giant tail came down right next to Amaterasu which, despite that it missed, disrupted the water causing Amaterasu to fall under the surface. This amazed her since she hasn't been underwater for a long time. She looked around for the monster but there was no sign of it. She began to swim toward the surface and it was there that she realized that the creature was directly before her.

She began to swim as fast as she could but it was nothing compared to the speed of the creature. It was getting closer and Amaterasu began to swim like her life depended on it which it did. The monster was now a few feet below her and it opened its mouth, ready to eat the wolf. They crashed through the surface and they were high in the air. She was exactly below its mouth which was still open. It snapped its mouth shut and it was able to latch on to Amaterasu's right leg. Amaterasu let out a yelp when she felt its teeth sink into her leg. The monster then began to fall down into the water, bringing Amaterasu with it. Fortunately, Hakuzo was able to grab onto the creature's sail before it hit the water. While under the water, he began climb up to where the black jewel was, careful not to loosen his grip otherwise...Well, he didn't want to think about what will happen to Amaterasu. He began to claw and slash at the jewel with his claws engulfed in white fire. This caused the monster to let go of Amaterasu's leg and allow to swim toward the surface. She swam to the surface, her lungs feeling like they would burst any moment. She finally reached the surface and began to breathe in the fresh air.

Mayumi was focusing more of her power. Then a huge blast of water came out of the sea, sending the huge beast out of the water. The blast looked like someone dropped a bomb into the ocean. Hakuzo was still on the monster and let go to take this chance to recover lost oxygen. After Hakuzo let go and was now flying in the air, a great wave slammed into the creature, sending it all the way to Watcher's Cape. It smashed against the pointed piece of land which broke the sail on its back. It then fell into the sea. Everyone quickly headed to where the monster was sent. They got close enough, but not too close, to see that the impact broke a piece of the land off the tip. Amaterasu looked down and she let out a gasp. The water was red. Hakuzo, from above, watched the sea around Watcher Cape turn red but the whole ocean wasn't turning red. It was only the water around the tip of the land. He then saw something coming up. He couldn't quite clearly see it because of the redness of the water. The sail of the monster came out of the surface which made everyone, except Hakuzo, get back. The sail slowly turned over and landed flat on the surface. It floated there without its owner.

Amaterasu was completely shocked by this. The collision actually broke the sail completely off the monster. The water was red from its blood. What disgusted her was that there were chunks of flesh attached to the sail. She looked down at the water and notice that there was a trail of blood. "Mayumi!" yelled Amaterasu and she pointed at the trail of blood. Mayumi nodded and she used the last of her power to make another massive wave. The wave, which contained the monster, crashed onto the shore. The monster tumbled out and began to smash into the trees. It was on its side and the plesiosaur flippers prevented it from getting up. Mayumi was now very tired from using great amounts of her power. She felt a little sad that she wasn't of any more use to Amaterasu. Hakuzo dived down and grabbed Amaterasu with his and he flew as fast as he could. He let go of her when they flew above the monster. Amaterasu landed right next to the jewel and she slashed at it with her glaive. She stopped and pulled her sword back for a moment. She began to magnify its power and then dealt the final blow. The glaive smashed the jewel completely and it also sent in great volts of lightning through the monster's body. The monster let out a weak roar of defeat and it slowly began to disappear into a black mist. The mist floated away and it disappeared over the horizon.

Hakuzo flew down to where Amaterasu stood. He had a look on his face that said 'well done'. Mayumi stumbled out of the water and her body was shaking. She was tired from all the swimming and water powers. But she managed to put on a dragon-like smile on her face. Hakuzo and Amaterasu walked on over to her to see if she was okay. The thoughts of defeating such a massive creature and that the sea was safe once again vanished when Amaterasu heard a voice say: "Ma cherie!" She turned to see two familiar faces.


	13. Such Disrespect

The Elements Return

Amaterasu was completely shocked to see Waka again. She thought that maybe something bad might have happened to him when the curse began to spread. She felt relieved and happy to see that he was alright. She could tell that Hakuzo and Mayumi felt the same way when they saw Ariya. A cloud of happiness floated around them when they all looked at the lost ones' faces. However, it was disrupted when Ariya noticed that Terasame wasn't around. Sadness could be seen on her face. The quiet reunion was broken by Issun.

"Aw, great! Why did YOU have to show up, ya half-baked prophet!?"

For the first time ever, Amaterasu shook her head so violently that it knocked Issun off her head.

"What is your problem!? He's helped me out as much as you did and I will not tolerate this bitterness you have against him!!" barked a very angry Amaterasu.

This surprised, and even scared, everyone. They have never seen Amaterasu act this way nor did they ever imagine to get that mad. Of course, Issun was the most scared since his close friend had suddenly snapped. What was even scarier was the look in her amber eyes. Amaterasu continued to stare daggers at him until she let out a dog-like huff and walked away, toward the sea. Everyone else was frozen in their place, their minds still not processing what had just happened. Issun snapped out of his fear of the angry goddess and replied:

"Be that way! I'll ride on Ariya instead!"

Amaterasu didn't respond and continued to walk on. Issun hopped on over to Ariya's frozen body and sat down on her head, grumbling. Waka was the next to break out of the spell and he ran after Amaterasu. The dragons then snapped out of it as well, asking each other if what they saw had really happened. Mayumi, who was tired from the earlier fight, felt her strength returning.

"Ma cherie!" called Waka.

Amaterasu stopped and waited for him. He finally caught up and she saw confusion in his eyes. She knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Why did you do that?"

The question had came up. Amaterasu didn't know exactly why did she do it. Before, all she did was ignore Issun's insults at Waka. But...Why did she do it now? What had come over her to do such a thing to her friend? A friend who was always there. She couldn't answer Waka's question and to him, it felt like he was talking to the same wolf he had encountered after her 100-year slumber. The only thing that escaped her mouth was a wolf-like sigh. Waka then knew that the answer was something that she didn't know or wasn't ready to be said. He decided to drop the subject and ask her something else.

"So...Where's Terasame?"

"She's at the Dragon Palace. I have to go back and see if everyone is okay now. And, of course..." Amaterasu pointed her head toward Hakuzo and Ariya.

Waka nodded his head and he saw Mayumi clumsily walk over to them.

"Shall we go back to palace?" she asked.

"Of course!" replied Amaterasu, the happy-go-lucky spirit returning.

Mayumi jumped into the water which caught the attention of Hakuzo and Ariya. They both walked on over to the others. Amaterasu walked along the surface, signaling the rest of them to follow. Mayumi swam quite fast that it matched the speed of Amaterasu. They soon found themselves before the same spot where the whirlpool appeared before. Mayumi used her power to make another one. When the whirlpool appeared once again, everyone went through it. They stood before the Dragon Palace and Amaterasu could feel that the spell over it was now gone. The door was still on the ground and it made Waka and Ariya wonder what happened. Upon entering the palace, Amaterasu saw all the guards looking better than before. They looked a bit dazed but at least they were no longer under that spell. Hakuzo then immediately dashed and he took the same way that Terasame had gone through earlier.

Everyone else, except Mayumi, followed him. Instead, Mayumi went to the elevator to check on Otohime. As the others followed Hakuzo, Ariya and Waka were lost, not knowing what was going on. But then something came to Ariya's mind. He was running because of Terasame. As soon as this thought came up, she began to pick up her pace. Hakuzo was already gone from sight. He had already reached the room where the baby was. To his surprise, the black dragon he left behind was no longer there, waiting for him to return. Instead, there was a woman holding the baby. She wore a black kimono with a red obi. Her long hair was also black and her skin was pale. When the woman looked up, he gazed into the ruby red eyes he had fallen in love with. A smile came on her face and she slowly got up.

"I'm glad to see that you've safely returned, my love."

It was _her _voice. He was happy to see that she was unharmed as well. He was also confused about her being human.

"What...? What happend to you?" he finally asked.

Terasame placed the sleeping baby back in its crib and she turned to answer him.

"It was the Dragon Orb." she replied and pointed to the strange-looking orb on a shelf.

In 30 seconds or so, the others joined in the room. They were just as surprised as Hakuzo was when he entered the room. Amaterasu admired how she looked and made her wonder how the other dragons might look in human form. Issun definitely admired her beauty greatly since she did have nice curves and, well, a good breast size. Waka was in awe which gave Amaterasu a strange feeling of jealousy. Jealousy was something she never felt before and for her to feel it against another goddess was new to her. The Dragon Orb began to glow and Terasame reverted to her dragon form.

"Awww! It didn't even give me enough time to paint!" said Issun.

Both Hakuzo and Terasame growled and beared their sharp teeth for a minute but it faded away when Terasame looked directly at Ariya. Amaterasu could see the strong mother-daughter bond that they shared. There was no need for words when they looked at each. Their eyes told the other how much they missed them, and how happy they were to see the other was safe. Otohime finally entered the room, and by the looks of it, she ran too. The Dragonian Queen bowed before Terasame.

"Thank you for taking care of my child." There was a lot of appreciation and other hidden meanings in her voice.

"It was my pleasure." said Terasame.

Everyone began to say their goodbyes to Otohime. All the dragons and Waka left the room, except Amaterasu. She turned to leave but then ran to the baby's crib and gave a few licks to the baby. At first, Otohime was confused but then she understood what had happened. It was Amaterasu's way of blessing the child. And with that, she left the room. She caught up to the others. They walked through the halls and were soon out the door. Hakuzo did stop to pick up the door he had knocked down earlier before they left. They were soon at Ryoshima's shoreline and they had traveled some distance away from the beach before Amaterasu heard the sound of wings.

"Hello again, mutt!"

Amaterasu looked up to see a yellow dragon with orange wings and eyes flying down toward her. It was Nagura and she happened to be another person (dragon?) that Issun didn't like. She landed before Amaterasu which made Amaterasu realize what the dragon had just called her.

"Did you just call me a 'mutt'?"

"I thought wolves were supposed to have excellent hearing! But then again...Maybe 'mutt' isn't good enough. How about 'fleabag'?" Her tone was a taunting one and Amaterasu didn't like it.

"What makes you think I'll let you call me that?"

"I don't really care! I'll call you whatever I want!"

"Hey! You can't talk to the sun goddess that way! After all, she saved your life! Remember? You better treat her with respect!" interuppted Issun.

Amaterasu was amazed that, despite the fight they had earlier, he still defended her. He truly was a great friend and it made her feel horrible about the way she acted earlier.

"Of course I remember! But I don't think she is worth respecting!"

"Nagura!!" roared both Terasame and Hakuzo. Ariya then growled to keep them silent. She knew what was going to happen next. There was going to be a fight and Amaterasu would have to put Nagura in her place. This reminded her of the time when she had to do so. And how she had so easily done it to put this disrespectful dragon right where she belonged. Ariya knew that Amaterasu would be able to overpower Nagura. She had to make sure that no one must interfere...No matter what. Otherwise, Nagura will never learn. If someone did interfere, she will think that Amaterasu is weak and would confirm her that Amaterasu truly wasn't worth respecting. No. Ariya WILL make sure that no one got in the way. And it was time for Nagura to learn the hard way (for the second time) to show others respect.

Unbeknownst to the group, someone was watching the commotion. A white dragon with feathered wings watched from the cliffs, hidden from view. He had black hourglass symbols all around his body and his tail also ended in the same shape. His eyes were a light grey and his wings, from the front, had black feathers. But the feathers on the back were white. He watched them intently for a couple more seconds. He then took off into the sky, heading north.

* * *

Whoa! who could this dragon be? He's my new OC! Sorry but I won't put up a description of him until later chapters. Anyway, I hope Dragon Man 180 liked that I put in the recommendation of having Ammy lick the baby. See? I listen to my reviewers! The whole Amaterasu/Nagura fight gets me thinking that Ariya should have told them that the dragons will serve AND respect Amaterasu. But then again, Nagura's personalilty is the type to disobey. So I guess it fits in pretty good to what's going to happen in the next chapter. 


	14. The Land of Ice and Snow

Wow, it has been a long time that I started working on another chapter for this story! So sorry for the writer's block but I'm kind of over it. Hopefully, this chapter will come out good.

The Elements Return

Amaterasu's jaws clamped down on Nagura's neck. They were both tired from the fight but it was something that Amaterasu had to do. She had to teach this rebellious dragon to respect her. Waka, Ariya, Terasame, Hakuzo, and Mayumi watched the fight and dared not to interfere. Well, that's what Ariya told them not to do. "Okay, okay! I give up!" said Nagura. Amaterasu released her dominant grip and watched the dragon get up. "Now will you respect Ammy?" asked Issun. Nagura growled but nodded her head. She was going to respect the goddess but she won't be happy with it. But it was an improvement.

"So what do we do now?" asked Issun.

"We have to go to Kamui. Seiji and Yomiumi will most likely be there." said Amaterasu. She turned her head to look at Mayumi. "Mayumi, can you stay here and watch over Ryoshima Coast?"

"Of course, Amaterasu."

"Nagura, will you be joining us?"

"I suppose. I mean, I have nothing better to do." she replied.

"Alright! Let's get going!" said Issun.

Everyone departed for Kamui, the land of the extreme north. They bidded Mayumi farewell and left Ryoshima Coast.

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"Oh, man, it's still freezing here!" said Issun.

They had finally reached Kamui. The trip took hours to get here but they finally made it. Amaterasu could see that there was no cursed zone and was slightly puzzled by it.

"No cursed zone...That's kind of surprising!" said Amaterasu.

"Me and Ariya took care of that. You know very well that Kamui is a difficult land to live in and I didn't want to leave it in a cursed zone." said Waka.

"Oh, that's just fine. So...Where do we start looking?"

"We could probably check Wep'keer!" said Issun.

"Good idea, Issun."

"She said I had a good idea! Ha! In your face, half-baked prophet!" he gloated. Waka growled slightly while Amaterasu just rolled her eyes. There was no way to change Issun's ways or habits.

Meanwhile, by the Guardian Sapling of Kamui was Seiji. He looked down at the snow, bored out of his mind. There wasn't much to do in Kamui. He would try to fight off monsters but they ran away from him. That was very surprising since the monsters of Nippon never run away from anything. But Seiji was an exception. He sighed, wondering what the other dragons might be doing. Then something flew through the sky and made him look up. He saw another dragon flying and he didn't recognize it. This was someone knew and he was sure of it. He got up and quickly ran after it. He wasn't going to fly because that might make this dragon fight and he didn't know what they were capable of doing.

He wasn't going to risk it. He followed the dragon's shadow for quite some distance until he came to a complete halt. The dragon was now flying over Yoshpet and Seiji wasn't going in there. He knew what this forest does to beasts and that included himself. He could see the dragon land in the forest and was gone from view. Seiji wondered who that dragon could be but mentally shook off the idea. Whoever they were, it was no longer his problem. But still...Where did that dragon come from? Seiji turned around, thinking about this thought while he walked back to the Guardian Sapling.

"Hey, Seiji!" said a voice. Seiji looked up and saw Amaterasu, Waka, and a small portion of his family.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, no emotion in his voice.

"We were looking for you!" said Nagura.

"Are you okay? Did anything happen?" asked Terasame, concern easily detected.

"I'm fine but...I did see this other dragon. I didn't know them so I tried to follow but the dragon went into Yoshpet."

"Yoshpet? The forest of deception? What would a dragon want in Yoshpet?" asked Amaterasu.

"The Spirit Gate, perhaps?" said Waka.

"Probably. I'll go check it out. You guys should stay here and check out the area. Oh, and see if Wep'keer is safe too." said Amaterasu.

She ran off to Yoshpet, a feeling of nervousness filled her. She wasn't sure what to expect which explains why she felt this way. She stood before the edge of the forest, staring into the dark depths. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. She slowly walked into Yoshpet, already feeling the stange pollen that the trees gave out.

"Are you really going in there?" asked Issun.

"Of course I'm going in there! I have to know who that dragon was!"

"Curiousity killed the cat, you know!"

"I'm not a cat!"

"You know what I mean!"

"Hey, don't worry about what will happen. Everything's going to be just fine."

Amaterasu made her way through the forest, avoiding cursed trees and falling icicles. She made it to the clearing where Ponc'tan was, the village of the Poncles. Issun was a bit quiet while Amaterasu walked by the tree stump. She then proceeded through the rest of the way. This part of the forest was even more dangerous than the last so Amaterasu was cautious. At last, Amaterasu reached the Spirit Gate. However, no one was there. Amaterasu was a little confused by the emptiness of the area. She sniffed the snow and she was able to pick up a foreign scent. It smelled kind of like cherry blossoms. She then walked to the Spirit Gate and observed it. She began to walk around the gate, making sure that every inch of it wasn't left unlooked.

But when she walked to where she first stood, she saw someone there. It was the dragon Seiji had seen earlier. It was white and it had black hourglass-shaped symbols on it. Its tail also ended in the same design. It had grey eyes and spines running down his body. It had feathered wings like Hakuzo but one half of the wings was white while the other was black. It stared at Amaterasu for quite some time, making no noise whatsoever.

"Who are you?" asked Amaterasu. The dragon didn't answer but turned around. With its claws, it slashed through the air making a portal appear. It jumped through it and Amaterasu quickly ran after him. But the portal closed up before she could go through it. She landed on the snow gracefully but was left with her question unanswered.

"That was really weird." said Issun.

"Tell me about it. I wonder who was that."

"I want to know to! But I guess all we can do now is go find Yomiumi."

"Oh, right, she's the last one. The others should be at Wep'keer."

Amaterasu turned around and took one last look at the Spirit Gate before she ran off. She left the Yoshpet and the Spirit Gate behind and headed for Wep'keer. Only one dragon left...


End file.
